


Shadows Rise

by QuixoticKitsune



Category: ENHYPEN (Band)
Genre: 3rd Person Limited, Alternate Universe, Blood and minor injuries, Character Death, Enhypen universe, Fake It Till You Make It, Fake Science, For the most part, Gen, Human Experiments, I don’t have a bs in vampire biology, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Let Me In mv fed my muse and here we are, Mystery, Not Beta Read, Platonic Relationships, Vampires, Victorian setting, dripping in drama, emotional whiplash between sections, first time trying to write that so let's see if I can keep the tension up, it took on a life of its own and demanded to be written, minor suspense and horror, platonic ot7, rise from the dead and all that, serious injury happens off screen, tagged the most prominent relationships to help with search visibility, technically major character death but only temporarily, theory post turned story, unethical human drug testing, was supposed to be a one shot then I started writing, yes Sunoo is my bias but amusingly not the reason he’s the narrator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:35:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 28,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28299825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuixoticKitsune/pseuds/QuixoticKitsune
Summary: In his dreams, he's crying and alone. Waves crash against the jagged rocks that make up his tiny island, the night sky cold and blank above him. A cat with galaxies for eyes stares down at him and asks, "What would you give up for them?""Anything."Sunoo wakes up in a strange boarding house turned medical facility far from home. He befriends the cheerful but intermittently sick boys and uncovers dark secrets about his supposed care givers.Essentially a 'Let Me In' and 'Given-Taken' theory post-turned-story set in Enhypen's fictional universe.
Relationships: Kim Sunoo & Nishimura Riki | Ni-Ki, Kim Sunoo & Yang Jungwon, Nishimura Riki | Ni-ki & Yang Jungwon, Park Jongseong | Jay & Park Sunghoon, Park Sunghoon & Shim Jaeyoon | Jake
Comments: 33
Kudos: 110





	1. Wake Up in Day One

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Welcome to my this-was-only-supposed-to-be-a-MV-theory-how-is-it-now-a-multichapter-fic story! I won't be tagging each chapter individually, so be mindful that any could contain the tagged warnings. Mostly just a set up chapter, but it already hints at things getting darker before they get better. Hope you enjoy it!

Sunoo had always been a weak and sickly child. If someone in his class so much as sniffled or a neighbor coughed, it was inevitable that Sunoo would get sick. He'd always felt like a burden to his struggling parents when he felt his nose getting runny and throat sore. He was used to being sick more often than healthy, money only being spared for when he was _really_ sick.

Sunoo thinks this probably qualified as really sick as he bobs back and forth between wakefulness and a pitch black faint. He remembers going outside to grab new logs for the fire, mother busy with dinner. He remembers the texture of wood beneath his finger tips, and then his face? He opens his eyes what feels like moments later to find himself in his father’s arms as he raced down the street to the local physician. Eyelids close, open again to a nurse wringing out a towel and placing the blessedly cool item to his burning forehead. With him semi-awake, she insists he sit up drink some water and have a few pills. This cycle of black and pills repeats itself over and over, till the feverish haze breaks and Sunoo opens his eyes one day and simply stares at the bed across from his. It is an ordinary dark wood framed bed with clean white sheets, but its occupant captures his attention.

A boy with black hair lies with his back facing him, slow rise and fall of his chest. When he flips over, he grunts and covers his eyes with an arm, light from the rising sun cutting across his closed lids. He puffs out a sigh, then sits and rubs his eyes. As if feeling his gaze, the boy turns and looks back at Sunoo. He looks even younger than Sunoo with his round, boyish face. Dark brown eyes flash in surprise before turning up slightly with a grin.

"Hello, welcome back to the land of the living."

"Thanks," Sunoo tries clearing his throat to rid himself of the scratchy pitchy tone. "Where are my parents?"

The boy’s eyes widen. "Oh wow, you really must have been out of it. Your parents aren't here, you're at a care facility in the countryside."

Sunoo furrows his brows, confused about what he's woken up to and worried about the possibility of how much his most recent health issue must have cost his parents. "Countryside? We live in the middle of the city. My parents can't afford this, wha-" He huffs as he sits up, muscles stiff and protesting. How long was he asleep?

"Whatever you had, must have been pretty bad if you don’t even remember getting here."

The door opens then, and a woman in a stark white apron carrying a tray approaches his bed. She looks around his mother’s age with brown hair pinned up and a soft smile crinkling the edges of her eyes. "Thought I heard a new voice. Glad you’re up. Niki, run along now, don't want to be late for breakfast, yes?"

Glancing back to the boy, his shoulders are ramrod stiff, a strong contrast to his previously relaxed posture. "Yes, ma'am," he replies, grabbing some clothes and leaving the room quickly.

Sunoo didn't think the woman's tone was especially sharp or authoritative, but that reaction was almost...fearful. He's brought back to attention when his eye is stretched open. The woman, presumably a nurse, checks him over, noting his temperature and heartrate have finally returned to normal along with regaining consciousness. She tells him it was a bit touch and go, doctors in the city couldn't figure out what was wrong, finally resorting to sending him out to this regional facility in the hopes that some clean air might help him fight whatever was ailing him. She swears up and down, there's something about clean air that will cure any aliment, why would folks ever consider living in a city. Sunoo nods along and gladly chugs down a glass of water, handing it back when it is empty.

"Uhh," he hesitantly interrupts. "Well, now that I'm better now, may I leave? I'd hate to waste any more of your time." _and any more of my parent’s non-existent money._ A countryside hospital? Sunoo can’t even fathom the travel expenses, let alone anything else.

"Oh, you sweet boy, you're not fully well yet. You're going to stay here until you are the absolute pinnacle of health."

"I feel quite well right now, I assure you! I can't possibly cost my parents any mo-"

"You'll be staying here till the Doctor says you can leave." It was startingly fast, the switch that came over her face. One moment a soft smile and the next a glare so sharp it could cut. Warm, pleasantly mundane rambling to a cold, harsh tone. "Okay?" And then it was back again, a smile that Sunoo now could see was a bit oddly pinched, just a touch too fake.

All he could do was mutely nod as he was handed some clothes and told to change and head downstairs for breakfast. The nurse left with the tray, shutting the door softly behind her.

On autopilot, he put on the white button up and black pants, mind scrambling to make sense of everything. He still had little to no idea where he was or how long he had to stay, where his parents were and how they were possibly going to afford this level of care, but he did know why the boy, Niki, had looked so scared. Sunoo did not want to get on that nurse's bad side.

As he steps out of the room, he finds two closed doors across the hall and one to his left slightly ajar, revealing it to be a bathroom. He closes the bedroom door and walks right, looking over the banister to the room below, gasping at the sight. The dark wood staircase led down to a foyer carpeted in a rich red. As he slowly stepped down the stairs, feeling only just a tad weak after however long he was bedridden, he felt overwhelmed with the opalescence that surrounded him: from the vases of fresh flowers and gleaming dark stained wooden furniture to the starch white curtains drawn back and moving slightly with the breeze and simply how much _space_ there was in each room. Following the sounds of silverware on china, he walked through a sitting room, with a few plush green chairs and a brown piano tidily tucked in the corner. The open archway led to a dining room. A large dining room, with six long tables, but the current occupants were all settled around only one. Huge windows made up the entirety of the back wall, letting in sun light that almost obscured a woman sitting at a small table, polishing silverware. She had long straight black hair fashioned in a bun and looked only to be in her mid-twenties. It wasn't the same nurse as before, but Sunoo didn't want to find out if her temperament was similar, so he quietly but hurriedly made his way to the table. 

He sits at an empty setting and glances around the table. The round-faced boy sat with five others that had equally as dark of hair but looked to be a bit older if their sharper features were anything to go by. They all look at him as he takes his place but no one utters a word. Even Niki, sitting across from him, only gives him a brief smile before returning to his food. Sunoo serves himself from the platters in the center of the table and eats quietly. Even as the boys finish off their meals, no one gets up to leave. They simply dabbed at their mouth with a napkin and remained seated. Not wanting to hold up whatever was happening, Sunoo finishes up quickly. As soon as he laid his napkin down, a pop across the room startles him.

The woman was no longer polishing, but instead divvying out pills next to glasses of water along the small table. When she returns to behind the table and closes the last lid to the line of pill bottles, the six boys rise as one and start walking towards her. Sunoo was startled but follows a moment behind as they each pick up a glass and the pills one by one. He hovers behind them, unsure.

“You’ll have your first dose at dinner,” the woman says before turning back to the line of boys. One by one, she goes down the line, looking into their mouths. When she gets to the end, she nods then says, “You are dismissed.”

The six quietly murmur their thanks for the meal, then head towards the sitting room. The woman doesn’t even glance at Sunoo still hesitantly standing in place. She picks up the tray full of pills and leaves through a door that she firmly shuts behind her. Sunoo nervously wrings his hands, glancing between the closed door and the sitting room, before turning and heading towards the boys.

They seem more like the young boys they are in that moment, laughing and talking, smiles on their faces. Niki turns, noticing Sunoo in the archway and pulls him by the arm into the room.

"Our roommate finally woke up this morning, Jungwon!"

A boy with cat like eyes stands and offers his hand. "It's nice to finally meet you...?"

Sunoo quickly shakes his offered hand. "Sunoo, Kim Sunoo."

The boy smiles brightly. "Yang Jungwon." 

Each boy introduces themselves one by one. Lee Heeseung has a small face and long gangly frame. When he smiles, his nose scrunches a tiny bit, making him appear younger despite being the oldest in the room. Park Jongseong, or Jay as he asks to be called, has longish bangs that he's constantly brushing away from his sharp eyes. He introduces himself very primly, his high-class manners apparent. A snort from the boy beside him causes the posh impression to crumble with his shout of "Yah!" in rebuke.

"Ignore him," he murmurs with a slight smirk, his cool eyes warming as he shakes Sunoo’s hand. "He likes to show off his manners at the start, but he's just as bad as the rest of us. I'm Park Sunghoon."

After Sunoo releases Sunghoon's hand, Jay grabs his shoulder and the two squabble good naturedly, obviously longtime friends as they poke fun at each other. Both of Sunoo’s hands are suddenly grasped excitedly by a sharp featured boy with a large grin. "I'm Shim Jaeyoon, but please call me Jake." He pumps their joined hands up and down happily and Sunoo can’t help but grin in return.

As the morning bleeds into afternoon, Sunoo finds himself relaxing. The boys easily brought him into conversations, Sunghoon and Jake debating about different breeds of dogs and what made one cuter than another, and sillily singing along to songs Jay played on the piano. While the others sang, Niki danced, letting the notes flow through him. He pulled Sunoo over to join him. Sunoo had no idea what he was doing and it made it all the more enjoyable. Everyone clapped and cheered when Heeseung sat down at the piano and proudly played the worst rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Sunoo had ever heard. As good as his voice was, he didn’t seem to have a knack for playing, but his sweeping bows after the 'performance' made the others only laugh harder. 

As Sunoo catches his breath, he realizes how sidetracked he had gotten. He got so caught up in their energy and laughter that just 'clicked' with Sunoo, that he forgot to ask the important questions. Clearing his throat, he asks, "So, what kind of care facility is this?”

The silence is thick and cloying, a sharp contrast to the laughter ringing out moments ago. The boys glance at each other, and Jungwon eventually takes it upon himself to answer. "Well...when we each came here, we were very sick, like you, and the nurses treated us until were better...but not well enough to leave? Um..." he glances at the others before his eyes return to Sunoo. "They keep trying to find the right medicines and dosages, cause we each have new or returning symptoms." 

"Like...like what?"

"I lose my voice," Heeseung volunteers. "I go days at a time not being able to make so much as a peep." He smiles, but it no longer reaches his eyes "That's why I like to sing so much, when I can."

They each speak about their issues. Unlike their introductions earlier, there's a much more somber tone in the air, and a lot of halfhugs and hand squeezes. Jake gets inexplicably angry and breaks things. Niki can't move his legs sometimes and has to be carried around. Sunghoon alternates between not sleeping a wink to passing out for days at a time. Jay, for all the languages he knows, forgets it all and struggles to even say his own name.

"Sometimes, I can't breathe." Jungwon grasps at his chest, Heeseung rubbing comforting circles on his back. "My heart races and my lungs just....I can’t get a full breath. It lasts only about a minute, but it's so scary."

Sunoo is shocked to say the least. These were all healthy happy boys, laughing and singing and dancing only a short while ago, what do you mean they were sick? He didn’t feel sick himself, but would he be the same and have these random, horrible symptoms? More than anything though, he worried about his parents. Where were they? How could they possibly afford any of this care? "What ... what about the costs? My parents don't make much, I can't be such a burden to them."

"The care is free, in exchange for testing out the new drugs," Jake says quietly.

"New drugs?" Sunoo says startled.

Jay hums. "We don't have really common ailments, there's not really a cure yet, so the care and staying here is free in exchange for trying out the new prescriptions. Hopefully, they find something that works, and we can finally get better."

Sunoo turns his gaze to his hands, watching as they twist and fuss as he sorts through this information. So, his parents aren't going to pay a dime? Nothing? What a relief. Free health care in exchange for testing drugs meant to make him better? He honestly understands why his parents would be willing to agree. It bothers him a little that they didn't ask his opinion. They didn't have to, given he wasn't an adult yet or really in any state to respond, but they normally included him in decisions relating to himself. But it was too good of an offer to turn down.

Sunoo and the rest of the boys glance up when a bell chimes from the other room.

"Oh, lunch," Niki says softly. He pulls Sunoo along with him as they all file into the dining room. Neither of the nurses are present, only a platter of sandwiches and a garden salad on the table they ate breakfast at this morning.

Unlike this morning however, lunch is loud and merry, chasing away the dark conversation with bright laughter. Following the food, the boys show him around the manor, because it is too large to be called a house. The sitting room and dining room he was already familiar with. The rest of the first floor was off limits but consisted of the two nurses’ rooms and the kitchen. The boys said there was nearly nothing that bothered Yeonji and her apathetic nature was much preferable to Jaegin. They recommended being on his best manners around her and not to ask questions. If he wanted to ask something, ask Yeonji. At worst, she would just ignore him. A set of stairs next to the kitchen led downstairs, where all the medicine and medical equipment was, along with the Doctor's office and quarters. Again, off limits, but he would probably get checkups regularly like the rest of them and would see it soon. Outside there was a porch with a few chairs and an expansive yard. On good weather days and when they felt up to it, they were allowed outside as long as they stayed within the fence line of the house. The fence kept out the furry neighbors from the extensive woods around the house, but they never even spotted a rabbit outside, much less anything actually fearsome. Upstairs there was a storage room with outgrown toys and damaged furniture that the boys had converted into a club house. Besides the piano sitting room, this is where they spent the most time. There was a hallway full of unused bedrooms, and then the short hallway Sunoo had left this morning. The doors across the hall from the one he woke up in were also bedrooms, with Heeseung and Jake in one and Sunghoon and Jay in the other.

"Honestly though Sunghoon and Jake are a package deal, so Heeseung and I usually have one more or less roommates any given night." Jay says.

Niki scoffs jokingly, saying they are putting a perfectly good bed to waste. All the boys turn to the youngest, telling him off as Niki just laughs. Evidently, Niki never sleeps in his own bed. Even this morning, he was in Jungwon's bed. Each person regals a tale of their surprise plus one. Sunoo was laughing and laughing, each story funnier than the last, until Niki slid his arm across his shoulders.

"Y'know Sunoo, your bed looked really comfy this morning."

He gasp laughs, "Wha-what?"

"It's tradition at this point: new kid has to suffer through a week of Niki."

Niki sniffs at that. "I'll have you know I am an absolute _joy_." 

The conversation devolves into denial and laughter and Sunoo feels so warm. He may still be a little lost, but he thinks it would be pleasant to find his way along with this group of boys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The goal is to finish this before the first (as of yet unannounced) comeback, just so I don't feel discouraged with all my current theories based off of 'Given-Taken' and 'Let Me In' and the basis of this fic being proven wrong, haha. As much as I adore the ever-evolving story surrounding Big Hit artists' universes, it wrecks my personal motivation to finish stories that are now 'wrong.' I think this will be in the 5-8 chapter range and I have the major events planned out, just gotta write it now.
> 
> I'd love to hear your thoughts. Have a wonderful day!


	2. You Calling Me Over the Thin Line

It only takes two days for Sunoo to find out what his health issue is.

When he wakes up, it is still pitch black, making it impossible to see anything. He's pressed between the wall and Niki, who lays sprawled across most of the bed. Sunoo can understand why others would be bothered by this kind of sleeping arrangement, but honestly it is a comfort for Sunoo, who's used to sleeping between his parents in their one-bedroom home. When he's not in a feverish haze, the bed feels too big, too cold for Sunoo alone. He thinks he might offer Niki a permanent sleeping buddy after this week is over. Sunoo snuggles back into his pillow, ready to fall back asleep. Niki grumbles then shifts into a sitting position.

“Morning Sunoo,” he rumbles in a voice heavy with sleep.

“Niki, it’s still dark out, go back to sleep,” he whispers back.

Niki gives a questioning grunt and Sunoo feels him turn slightly. “No, it’s definitely morning. We’re up before Jungwon though, that’s a feat.” Niki shifts out of bed, his voice taking on a mischievous tone. “Which means I can to _this._ ”

Sunoo hears a blanketed _thump_ , and Jungwon is yelling and Niki is laughing and the rustling of blankets, but it isn’t Sunoo’s main focus.

He _knows_ his eyes are open. He _knows_ he has his hand in front of his face.

But all he sees is black.

He sits up in bed and turns to face where he knows Niki and Jungwon are still wrestling and laughing.

_But he can’t see anything._

Sunoo lets out sob and covers his mouth with his hands. The two others in the room must have heard him though, because suddenly there’s two arms around him and Niki’s voice in his ear. “Sunoo, Sunoo, shh, shh, shh, what’s wrong?”

Sunoo grabs Niki’s shirt to ground himself, to not feel _so lost_ in this sea of black. “I-I can’t see.”

“What?”

“ _I can’t see, Niki.”_

Fabric sliding against fabric, then two footsteps, Jungwon’s shaky voice close. “How many fingers am I holding up?”

Sunoo reaches out his hand, feels Jungwon’s arm and trails up to his hand, all the while Niki’s grip on his shoulders tightens.

“Th-three.”

Jungwon’s hand is ripped from his grasp, then pounding footsteps and the door banging against the wall. Sunoo buries his face in Niki’s neck as he hears the doors across the hall open and four worried voices getting nearer. He’s too focused on his breathing, _in 1 2 3, out 1 2 3,_ he can’t answer all their questions, so Niki does it for him. Comforting touches to his shoulders and back, murmured assurances that he was going to be okay, they were there for him no matter what. Two sets of footsteps grew louder and louder till a shrill female voice demands that they make room. The comforting hands are replaced with a firm one under his chin, tilting his head up and this way and that. Niki is still there, both his hands clasping Sunoo’s left and his chest brushing Sunoo’s arm with every breath.

Jaegin mutters to herself about _pupil dilation_ and _tracking_ then takes a step back from him. “Sunghoon, carry him downstairs, he can’t see well enough to walk there, poor dear.”

“Downstairs or-“

“The office,” she says and starts to leave the room, presumably to ‘the office,’ wherever that is.

Niki wraps him in a tight hug then lets go once Sunghoon’s footsteps have stopped near the bed. “Niki, help him onto my back.” Niki pushes aside the tangled sheets and guides Sunoo’s hands to Sunghoon’s shoulders. Hands wrap around Sunoo’s knees and then he’s hoisted off the bed, arms wrapping tight around Sunghoon’s neck as he’s jostled a bit then loosens once he’s gotten him comfortably in place. Again, the remaining boys brush their hands against him and reassure him as Sunghoon passes them. Sunoo bounces a bit as they go down the stairs, then it is just _pat pat pat_ as Sunghoon makes his way through the mansion, then a lock clicks and Sunoo hears a door open, then he’s bounced again as they descend another set of stairs. Once at the bottom, Sunoo can feel it is a few degrees cooler and there’s a muskiness to the air. _Why would a doctor want a room in the basement, when there’s so many unused ones upstairs?_ Sunoo thinks as Sunghoon continues walking through another door.

“Okay, setting you down, there’s an exam table right behind you.” Sunghoon bends down a bit and then Sunoo can feel the cold metal through his thin nightshirt. Sunghoon only lets go after Sunoo says he’s seated, then sits beside him, holding his hand.

“Thank you, Sunghoon,” Jaegin says, stepping into the room. There are small noises of glass bottles gently clinking and metallic clanking as Jaegin lays out items. Sunoo’s never been afraid of a doctor’s office, but with no visuals every sound is sharper and more frightening than it would normally be. “You can join the others upstairs for breakfast now. Run along.”

Sunoo’s grip on his hand tightens, and Sunghoon squeezes back. “No. I’m not leaving him.”

“Sunghoon,” The bite is back in her tone, “I just told you to-“

“He can stay, Jaegin,” a deep masculine voice says from the doorway. “Poor boy must be scared out of his mind, suddenly not being able to see.” His voice moves across the room as he speaks. “A friend is a small comfort he can be afforded right now.”

“Doctor, are you-“

“Positive Jaegin. It’s fine, I’ll take it from here.”

“Right, Doctor, of course.” The simpering is new. Footsteps out of the room, then the door closes softly.

"Now, I’m going to look at your head, okay? Just feeling for any lumps or cuts you might not have noticed."

Sunoo nods in acknowledgment, and then he feels large calloused hands turn head about and skim across his scalp. His touch is clinically gentle, but firm. When he removes his hands, he takes a few steps back, and there's a slight metallic scraping sound that causes Sunoo to squeeze his hands nervously.

"He's just picking up some of his tools," Sunghoon says softly, squeezing back.

The doctor steps forward again. "Just going to take a look at your eyes, mouth, nose and ears." He does just that, but the sensations are still startling without the visual warning, so Sunoo squeezes Sunghoon’s hand tightly, forcing himself to be still for the Doctor.

Once again, he steps back once he's finished. Papers flap for a few minutes then he grunts once, seeming to come to a conclusion. "I’m going to try and modify your current prescription. New formula will be ready by this evening. If all goes well, your vision will return back to normal."

Sunoo doesn't ask what the alternative is, doesn't want to hear that this blackness is permanent. So instead, he says, "Thank you, Doctor...?"

"Just Doctor is fine. I like the keep things simple, hn?" Rustling of papers, then his footsteps are heading towards the door. "The pills will be ready by dinner only if I get started now. Go, enjoy your breakfast. If you'll excuse me."

"He's never mentioned his name, always thought it was odd, but I guess everyone has got quirks." Sunoo can feel Sunghoon shrug through their still joined hands. "Never look a gift horse in the mouth and all that. Let's get back to the others, I'm sure they're worried."

Sunghoon lets go of his hand and guides it to the back of his shoulders. Getting on his back is easier this time, and they are soon walking back up the stairs. Once they reach the first floor, Sunghoon lets him down and guides him by the hand to the dining room. The clinking of silverware stops, and then there's a cacophony of fabric rustling and wood scraping against tile and footsteps and voices talking over each other. A body collides into Sunoo, Sunghoon's hands on his shoulders the only reason he's still standing.

"Yah, Niki, careful!" he lightly scolds.

"You okay?" Niki asks, wrapping him tightly in a hug and burring his face in his neck.

Sunoo wraps his arms around him in return. "Yeah, I will be."

God, he really hopes so.

***

Two days later, as Jay hold his right hand and his left slides along the banister as they make their way up the stairs, Sunoo grimly admits to himself that he might have to get used to this. This might be his new normal. The Doctor did indeed get the new prescription ready by the same evening, but so far, nothing had changed. All Sunoo saw was black.

Jay guided him to his shared bedroom, Niki's hand now taking his left. Sunoo turns towards Jay and tries to angle his head to the space he thinks his head should be. "Thank you."

"No problem at all." He taps Sunoo's hand with his thumb twice, then lets go. Niki then leads him to the dresser and helps him out of his clothes and into his nightshirt, then to bed. Niki snuggles close, still so obviously worried on Sunoo's behalf. Sunoo cards his fingers through Niki's hair until his shoulders loosen up and he lets out soft snores. Sunoo smiles softly. Such a sweet boy, caring so much for others, even when he had his own problems. Sunoo was happy to call him.... friend? He frowned, feeling that the term didn't fully encompass what he felt towards Niki, or any of the other boys for that matter. Family, brother, _hyung and dongsaeng_...that felt more right. He never had siblings growing up, but he liked to think it would have been at least half as good as this. Sunoo drifted off to sleep with a smile curved onto his lips.

Even in his dreams, he couldn't escape the sea of pure black. Every night, he hoped to dream of anything, _anything_ to break up the monotony of absolutely nothing, but his subconscious didn't want to cooperate.

Dream Sunoo sat down, ready to wait out another night alone on the dark, when a small pinprick of light startled him. A few moments passed, and the light grew bigger and bigger until it stopped a few feet away from him. It was a cat, a pure white one with fluffy hair. It regally sat on its back legs, looking down at him even though it physically looked up: a uniquely feline ability. Its eyes though, were amazing. Bright sapphire and peridot, they looked like light glowed from them instead of bouncing off. It was a gorgeous animal, one that Sunoo remembers distinctly from his old neighborhood. He happened across this cat a few times, but never got to touch its fur, either it was perched where he could not reach or it skirted around a corner before he got close enough. Here in his dreams is probably the only place he could dare to touch its cloud-like fur. Just as his fingers were about to connect, he hears someone say, "Don't."

Sunoo glances around, trying to find the source of the voice. It wasn't masculine or feminine, light or deep, the voice simply was. But there was no one else there. As Sunoo strains his eyes to see into the darkness, tinkling laughter sounds. Sunoo glances back to the cat.

"...can’t be..."

"Foolish boy," the cat looks him in the eye. "You're in a dream, of course it was me."

"Oh, I guess you're right."

The cat chuckles again. Its mouth doesn't move when it talks and its tiny frame doesn't shake when it laughs, it is a bit unnerving even for a dream. "You'll find I am right about many things." It starts to groom its front paw, pink tongue darting out of its mouth in long lazy licks. "So, you still can't see, can you?"

"I don't need a subconscious dream cat mocking me or my situation, I do that enough myself when I’m awake, thanks."

The cat huffs, narrowing its eyes. "I see I’m going to have to be rather direct with you as well. Pity, one of these days I’d like to meet a human who isn’t so dull."

"Hey-"

"Silence!" The cat actually hisses, startling Sunoo. Satisfied that he has been appropriately cowed, the cat sits primly once more. "You will regain your sight tomorrow, and I want you to actually use your eyes this time. Keep an eye on those pills, hmm?" The cat turns and starts to walk away, into the sea of black.

"Wait, what do you-"

Sunoo opens his eyes, and it’s not just black. He sits up swiftly, twisting to look at everything at once.

"What's going on?" Niki asks sleepily. He opens one eye and sees the blinding smile spread across Sunoo's face and his eyes.... his eyes are focused on his own. Niki launches to hug Sunoo, crying and grinning. They end up waking the rest of the boys, even though the sun is barely peaking over the horizon. It’s a touch quieter than normal, Sunghoon passed out since the day prior and Heeseung having a mute day, but it’s still a joyous occasion, and the others make up for the lack of two voices. Small victories, small victories.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm the type of writer who posts chapters as soon as they are done. So it may be, like in this case, the next chapter comes out the next day, or it could be a large gap of time. Again, will get this done before comeback.
> 
> Hope you are having a wonderful Christmas! Zooming with my parents later and I have a little usb fiber optic Christmas tree that is making my desk quite cheery, I hope everyone can find that one little thing that makes this odd year just a bit brighter.


	3. Let Me In

Three weeks had passed since his strange dream where his subconscious had warned him that something was off, and Sunoo believed he was finally clueing in.

Each boy had different colored pills, all very light, barely there colors. To Sunoo, there seemed to be no pattern as to how many pills were taken each day, but in addition to their uniquely colored pills, occasionally each boy would take a white pill. It was always the same shape and size as their respective colored one, but only one was ever taken at a time. It was given only ever in the morning, and without fail, the boy's symptoms would present the following day. Sunoo still couldn't tell if the colored pills did anything at all, or if it was simply to hide the white pills. It was too difficult for him to keep track of the pattern in the number of colored pills given to each boy straight in his head. Although they were given access to a few shelves of books, there were no writing utensils or loose parchment. He asked Yeonji for a pen and ink a few times, but was ignored, and he dare not ask Jaegin for fear that he tip his hand too early.

He had confirmed this pattern of the white pill preceding symptoms for himself, Niki, and Sunghoon. He was hoping to confirm another today, but he looks down at the white pill in front of him this morning and knows that won’t be happening

He can't let on to the nurses that he was doubting that they had real medical issues that weren't just a side effect of whatever drug the white pills were. So Sunoo takes the white pill in hand and swallows it down with a sip of water. He opens his mouth and Yeonji moves past after confirming there's nothing under his tongue. He sighs to himself and goes to join the rest of the boys outside. Five boys chase each other around the yard in a game of tag, but Sunoo doesn't feel up for it, so he plops down on the porch step next to his melancholic sleeping buddy. Niki had a white pill the day prior and wouldn't regain feeling in his legs till at least tomorrow evening. Sunoo reaches a hand out and intertwines his fingers with Niki's, who squeezes back gratefully, his eyes still following the game and yelling at the others from time to time. Sunoo turns to face the game, but his mind is elsewhere.

He can't just sit on this information forever, but how could he possibly broach this topic with the others? And actually convince them his crazy hunch was correct? _Hey, I think we are actually perfectly healthy and they are just making us sick to treat us._ It just didn't make sense, why would someone cause an illness just to treat it immediately? He wavered back and forth between being so sure that he was correct and that he was just being paranoid. Just what is he going to do?

At the very least, he knew he couldn’t bring the topic up with everyone present, that would cause too much chaos. No, he had to confide in one person, convince them and himself that this nightmare scenario was actually what was occurring before approaching the group as a whole. Then, that left the question of _who._ Looking out at his running, panting friends, Sunoo started to narrow his options down.

Jake and Niki were out of the question, the two wore their hearts on their sleeve. As sweet and wonderful of friends that they were, they didn’t have a subtle bone in their bodies. Jay was well-read, and could probably make sense of whatever documents were downstairs in the Doctor’s office when and if they could ever gain access to them, but Sunoo knew he couldn’t be the first to know. He was loyal and trustworthy, but when he felt wronged or cheated in a game, his temper made his tongue run. Sunoo couldn’t imagine his fury at being presented a white pill after he knew what they did. Sunghoon was certainly an option, but he had a temper similar to Jay’s: if Jay was fire, Sunghoon was ice. He would take the pills with fury in his eyes and wake up a few days later ready to dismantle the mansion board by board and no one would be able to stop him. Heeseung was normally very level-headed and sorted out the small disputes that came up between the boys as the eldest but when he learned the pattern, he would probably try and create distractions to switch up the pills and take all the white ones himself to shield the others. Nobel as that would be, it would be too obvious. That left Sunoo with Jungwon. Despite being younger than himself, Jungwon was wise beyond his years. Niki had roped him into pulling a few pranks on the hyungs, so Sunoo knew he could keep a perfectly straight face under pressure. He was logical and wouldn’t do something rash based off of feelings alone. Yes, Jungwon was the best option. Now, Sunoo just had to find a way to talk to him in private.

***

Sunoo sighs as he opens his eyes in the morning to see absolutely nothing. He hears the rusting of clothes, presumably Jungwon getting dressed.

“Jungwon?” he calls softly.

“Yes?”

“It’s a dark day, could you get one of the hyungs to help Niki?”

“Yeah, yeah of course.” His footsteps leave the room. Niki gives him a hug, evidently having woken up. Jungwon returns with Heeseung who carries Niki to the restroom upon his request. The room is quiet as Sunoo dresses himself. Jungwon is still in the room, standing nearby in case he needs anything, but at this point Sunoo has learned to do many tasks without the aid of his eyes. Dressing, eating, navigating the mansion…the only thing he can’t do is look at the new line-up of pills waiting downstairs. He pauses buttoning up his shirt. This is a perfect opportunity.

“Jungwon, could you do me a favor?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“When we get down to breakfast, could you tell me who has a white pill this morning?”

There’s a sharp intake of breath, he must be surprised. “What?”

Sunoo turns in Jungwon’s direction and gives a soft smile. “Humor me. I promise, I’ll explain later, but could you please be my eyes?”

“Uh, sure.”

The walk downstairs is quiet. They join the others for breakfast followed by the pill line up. Jake places two into his palm and his glass of water in the other. Sunoo thanks him, drinks down his pills then is led into the sitting room. He sits beside Niki on the green couch and the boys pass the day with conversation and tickling the ivory.

In the evening, Jungwon is helping Sunoo up the stairs. Once they reach the landing, Sunoo tugs their joined hands not towards the bedrooms but towards the storage room. He resists for only a moment in confusion, before once again leading the way. He helps Sunoo to sit before taking a seat beside him.

“So, Jay took a white pill this morning. Mind telling me why that’s important?”

“It means he won’t be speaking tomorrow.”

It is silent in the room for a while. Sunoo can only imagine the expressions flitting across Jungwon’s face. “…what?”

“I started noticing a pattern to the pills. A white pill means symptoms are going to return the next day.”

Silence again. Then quietly, “But, what if his pills are always white?”

“No, Jay’s are normally green. Yours are yellow, mine are pink. Heeseung red, Jake orange, Sunghoon blue, Niki purple. The colors are very light, but no one takes white pills every day.”

Jungwon digests this information. “And you figured this out when?”

“Two weeks ago I came up with the theory and have confirmed it for myself, Niki, and Sunghoon. Probably could have had everyone confirmed by now if I could actually _see_ all the time.”

“But isn’t that a little crazy? That they would cause our illnesses if they were just going give us the cure right after?”

An edge of hysteria has ebbed into Jungwon’s voice, so Sunoo reaches out for his hands and squeezes them. He sighs and gently says, “I know, I’ve been going in circles since the first time I confirmed it with my own pills. It doesn’t make any sense,” he huffs a humorless laugh, “but nothing about this situation makes much sense, does it?”

“Why didn’t you say anything? We could have helped, we-The others have a right to know-“

“They do, I know they do, but not yet. I-we can’t cause a panic. The nurses, the Doctor, they’re not very well just going to come out and confirm our suspicions, we have to come up with a plan and we currently have the element of surprise on our side.”

The couch they are seated on groans as Jungwon leans back and he lapses once more into silence. Sunoo knows it’s a lot to take in so he gives Jungwon all the time he needs, a huge weight off his chest just having confided in someone else. And he’s so happy it is reasonable, level-headed Jungwon.

Finally, Jungwon takes a deep breath, then lets it out slowly. “Okay, make a plan, definitely, but not tonight. We have to get back, or Niki will start to worry.”

Jungwon and Sunoo stand and start to make their way back to the bedrooms.

“But…you definitely believe me?” he asks nervously.

“I think we all know something is off, but we just couldn’t pinpoint what.” He squeezes Sunoo’s hand. “You’ve got a good eye.”

Sunoo huff a laugh. “No, just learned how to put them to use.”

***

Two weeks goes by, and it doesn’t feel like Sunoo and Jungwon have gotten anywhere. Even though by splitting it up, they can manage to remember the number of pills given to each boy, they still can’t make sense of the pattern. What made it worse was that some variables started to change: the size of Jake’s pills got larger and Sunghoon’s pills went from a sky to an ocean blue. What did it mean? They didn’t act any differently, and it didn’t seem to effect their symptoms or severity any. It was a frustrating puzzle that Sunoo and Jungwon spent a lot of time agonizing over. Every few nights they would slip out of their bedroom and discuss things in the storage room while the rest of the boys were asleep.

Tonight was one such night. Jungwon paces while Sunoo sits on a chair with his arms crossed. Jungwon finally stops and groans while rubbing the back of this neck. “We need to eliminate a variable. We know the white pills lead to the symptoms, but we don’t even know if the colored pills _do_ anything.” He scoffs as he rubs his face. “All this pill memorization may be for nothing if the colored pills are just placebos.”

“What do you suggest? The only time Yeonji is actually attentive is when pills are out, I’m not sure we can swap any without her or the other guys noticing.”

Jungwon is quiet for a moment, then whips his head to Sunoo, a light to his previously dull gaze. “Not swap, not take.”

Sunoo furrows his brow. “I don’t follow.”

Jungwon is now energetically gesturing with his hands as he talks. “You said it yourself, the only time she pays attention is to make sure we’ve swallowed the pills, but she doesn’t keep track of us to make sure we keep it down.”

A lightbulb flashes and Sunoo has caught on. “You mean we make ourselves sick after taking the pills?”

Jungwon nods emphatically. “The white ones specifically. That way we can be 100% sure that they are the cause of the symptoms as well as see if the colored pills do anything.”

“It’s perfect,” Sunoo returns Jungwon’s smile. It freezes for a moment, a thought occurring to him. “But, what if the colored pills _do_ do something?”

Jungwon shrugs. “We won’t know until we try. I hate to say it, but it can’t be much worse than what the white ones cause.”

Sunoo reluctantly nods. It is a grim situation, stuck between a rock and a hard place, he knew they would have to take some risks to figure this out.

“Okay, so the next time one of us gets a white pill, we’ll test it out.”

“Agreed.”

***

Two days go by, and then an opportunity presents itself. Jungwon received a white pill this morning. After they are released, Jungwon says something about a book he left upstairs, which suddenly reminds Sunoo about his own book left upstairs. Heeseung gives them a glance as they scurry out of the room but doesn’t say anything. Once upstairs, they enter the bathroom and lock the door. Jungwon takes a shaky breath and Sunoo gives his shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

“Jungwon, if you don’t want to, we can wait till I get one.”

He shakes his head. “No, I want to do this. It’s my theory, and this is the perfect opportunity.” His shoulders straighten and with resolve, he forces his hand to the back of his mouth.

Sunoo rubs soothing circles into his back as he heaves. When he’s done, Sunoo wipes away the tears at the corners of his eyes and hugs him till his breathing is back to normal. They return back downstairs, claiming they couldn’t find their books, must be somewhere else.

***

It’s the middle of the night, and Sunoo is startled awake by a loud thump across the room. He sits up to see Jungwon, gasping on the floor. He launches himself over Niki and to Jungwon’s side.

“Jungwon, what’s wrong?”

Jungwon can only wheeze, his hands clutching at his chest, eyes shining with tears and fear.

“-sss goin’ on?” Niki mumbles turning over.

“Niki, help Jungwon,” Sunoo shouts, already racing across the room, “I’m getting the nurses!”

Sunoo lets the door slam against the wall after he wrenches it open and then he’s racing down the stairs, through the foyer into the short hallway he hasn’t stepped in since that first day. He pounds against the first door, and it feels like such a long time before it’s opening to reveal a livid Jaegin. “What are you-“

“Jungwon can’t breathe! It’s worse than his normal attacks!”

Her face clears immediately and she shoves him towards the door across the hall. “Wake Yeonji, tell her to get the Doctor.” And then she’s racing upstairs.

Sunoo pounds on her door, and she rouses much the same way at the news. She leaves without a word, racing to the locked door leading downstairs. Sunoo turns and starts to make his way back upstairs. He’s on the first landing when a “Get out of the way!” makes him plaster himself against the wall. Jaegin barrels past with Jungwon in tow. Sunoo follows with the rest of the boys, Heeseung in the lead as they race through the sitting room. Jaegin barrels past Yeonji who holds the door to the basement open, then slips inside herself. Heeseung is reaching for the handle when Yeonji shouts, “Go back upstairs! We can’t focus on Jungwon if you all are downstairs making a mess.” All the boys are momentarily shocked, it’s the first time they’ve heard anything but a level tone from her and there’s actually a look of concern on her face. She closes the door, lock clicking into place then hurried footsteps disappearing below.

The boys mutely make their way away from the stairs. Niki reaches out to cling to him, so Sunoo wraps an arm around him, both trembling lightly. As Heeseung reaches the sitting room, he glances back over all five other faces, then he sits down on one of the couches. No one questions this and they all pile on to the sofas and chairs together, holding each other close.

Hours pass. Moonlight is slowly replaced by a hazy dawn. Some pass out against shoulders or with their heads leaned back, but Sunoo and Heeseung keep up their quiet vigil. The guilt Sunoo feels is insurmountable. He should have insisted they wait and test the theory out with his own drugs. His medicine only messes with his eyes, the worst that could happen is he goes blind. Jungwon’s messes with his _lungs_ for god’s sake! He could...already could be…

Heeseung moves to the seat beside him and wipes away his tears. He wraps an arm around Sunoo and, careful not to jostle Niki too much, gets Sunoo to lean on him. Being cared for so gently, when he is at fault for this whole situation, just makes Sunoo cry harder.

It’s breakfast time when the basement door opens. Heeseung is the first on his feet, with Sunoo quickly following after gently removing Niki from his shoulder. Yeonji with a tray of pill bottles against her hip softly closes the door behind her. She’s still in her nightgown and appears absolutely exhausted, but straightens up when she notices the two boys.

“How is he?” Heeseung asks softly.

“…Asleep,” she says, looking down to shift the tray in her hands. Sunoo and Heeseung let out a breath, _he was alive._ “I came up to fix breakfast so the rest of you can take your pills. Please wake the others and get them sorted out.”

Heeseung nods as Yeonji tiredly heads towards the kitchen.

He wraps Sunoo in a tight hug. Sunoo returns it, sure it is just as much for him as it is for Heeseung himself. They head towards the sitting room and help get the rest of the boys awake, dressed, and down for breakfast. None of them are very hungry, but Yeonji, now dressed, insists that they have at least a few mouthfuls before they can take their pills. After cleaning up the barely touched breakfast, she once again heads back downstairs.

***

Jungwon doesn’t return that evening.

Or the next.

***

“I’m sneaking downstairs tonight, come with me.”

Sunoo blinks up at Niki, dumbfounded. They just broke off from the others for the evening and Sunoo had just closed their bedroom door when Niki absolutely floored him with one sentence.

“Ha-hang on, what?”

“I can’t wait any longer, I have to know that Jungwon is ok with my own eyes, not some empty words from nurses who don’t even _care._ ” His trembling fists are clenched by his sides so tight his knuckles turn white. “So, I’m picking the lock and seeing for myself.”

“You know how to pick locks?”

A bitter smile crosses his face. “You learn a lot of skills living on the street in a foreign country.” Niki waves off the questions he can see in Sunoo’s wide eyes. “A story for later. Will you please come with me?”

Sunoo is just as antsy as Niki to confirm that Jungwon is alright. For the past three days, they were told that Jungwon was fine, just weak and still recovering his strength. There were no white pills given, only the colored ones. For the first time since his arrival though, someone was given no pills with their evening meal. It was a shock, but Jay and Niki had no pills laid out for them. It was startling, and yet another mystery in the pill pattern to solve. One that Sunoo desperately wanted his partner back for. So Sunoo looked up at Niki with determined eyes and said, “Of course.”

They waited about an hour for the rest of the boys to settle in for the night, then they quietly left their room and started down the stairs. When they got to the foyer however, they were startled to find a light on. It was coming from a room past the nurses’, right next to the kitchen. Two female voices could be heard, but not clear enough. Niki and Sunoo shared a look and crept closer to hear.

There was the sound of water sloshing and the distinct sound of clothes being run across a washboard. Both nurses were scrubbing at the same time when one paused and let out a loud frustrated groan.

“Damn dirt stains! They’re always such a pain, even blood doesn’t cling this badly.” Jaegin goes back to scrubbing vigorously.

“Don’t tire yourself on that dress, there’s still some of the boys’ clothes to get through. Just let it soak,” Yeonji’s voice replies.

Jaegin lets out a long drawn out groan. “At least there will be less laundry to do next time. My back is ever so grateful for that small blessing.”

“Jaegin, don’t say that,” Yeonji says coldly.

Jaegin lets out a huff of a laugh. “What? It’s true though. You know what the Doctor said? There wasn’t even a trace of his Drug A in his system. Stupid kid, skipping pills. Yes, Yeonji, I know you check ‘em all, I’m just saying he probably made himself sick. Just unlucky of him to skip that day: without a problem present, cures might as well be poison.”

Sunoo can hear Yeonji reply, but none of the words are clear over his own heartbeat that is suddenly in his throat. He grabs Niki with shaky hands and tugs him away from the door. Niki doesn’t even resist, just meekly follows, his face deathly pale. When they get to the foyer, he wraps Niki in the tightest hug and lets silent tears flow down his cheeks. He knew, in his head, that this was a possibility, but his heart had refused to even consider: it was impossible, of course Jungwon would come back, of course he would be fine. Even now, a constant mantra of _it’s not true, he’s still alive, they’re lying_ plays through his head. It just isn’t possible that Jungwon is-

Niki wrenches himself from his grasp and is at the front door, undoing the locks. Sunoo traps Niki’s hands with his own. Before Sunoo can even open his mouth, Niki is quietly begging, his eyes wet, “Sunoo, we have to check, you know we have to check, until I see with my own eyes, he can’t be, he’s not-“

“Quietly open the door,” Sunoo cuts off his blubbering. Neither of them could return to bed without knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt, Sunoo knows this in his bones, so he quietly undoes the last latch and silently swings the door open.

A waxing moon hangs above their heads, giving them more than enough light to see. Niki tugs him towards the gate. As they approach, Sunoo is already trying to figure out if he’s strong enough to push Niki over the top of the fence or if he should go first, but now he’s close enough to see the usual pad lock hangs undone on the gate and with a lift of the latch it swings wide open. He meets eyes with Niki and tries to swallow down his nerves.

“O-okay,” he starts shakily as they approach the tree line. “We are going to walk around the entire house. You are going to be about five yards from the edge of the clearing, and I’ll be a little deeper. We stay within sight of each other at all times, alright?”

“Yeah,” Niki says hoarsely.

As they make their way through the woods, the ever-present eeriness makes itself even more apparent. It’s not the fact that he is in the woods in the middle of the night that is making the hairs on the back of his neck rise, it is the deathly silence. There should be crickets chirping, owls hooting, rodents scurrying, but there’s nothing. Absolutely _nothing_. Just crushing noise underfoot and the shifting of branches in the breeze. Actually, now that he thinks about it, there’s a _saltiness_ to the breeze he didn’t pick up on before.

“Niki, are we near the ocean?”

“We’re on an island.”

“What?”

“Yeah, Jaegin was grumbling about how it takes too long to get anything, since the company that delivers stuff here only comes every other month.”

“We get _deliveries_?” Sunoo is baffled, when did he miss that?

“Oh, that’s right, you couldn’t see that day. You remember when you and I sat in the club room while the rest went downstairs to help move boxes? They were moving food into the pantry. The deliveries get set outside the gates and the nurses have us help carry it in, it’s the only time the gate is open.”

Sunoo is stunned. He’s a lot further from home than he thought. An island? Really?

He’s so preoccupied with his thoughts that he trips over a rock and lands hard on his forearms.

“You alright?” Niki calls.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” Sunoo says, brushing the dirt off his clothes. “Just tripped, I’m-“ But then he really registers his surroundings. Sunoo stands on a little dirt path. It’s barely noticeable, but the ground is packed a bit firmer, and there’s very little underbrush. “Niki! Come here! There’s a path!”

They hold each other’s hand tightly as they walk along the path. The moonlight illuminates a lot, but that overbearing silence makes Sunoo tighten his grip on Niki’s hand. Eventually the tree line breaks, and the they find themselves at the edge of a clearing.

Wildflowers grow in abundance, their assorted colors all tinged blue in the night, and the tall grass looks soft as it flutters from the wind. But what arrests Sunoo’s attention is the patch of bare earth. Niki’s grip on his arm becomes painfully tight. As they slowly get closer, it becomes clear that the grass around it is matted down and broken in a roughly rectangular shape. They stop a few feet away. There in the center of the fresh dirt is a single pink pansy, bobbing in the breeze. Sunoo looks around the clearing again, now noticing that the flowers all seemed to grow in clumps.

Sunoo is jerked as Niki suddenly lets go of him and runs full pelt from the clearing. Sunoo takes one last mournful look around the clearing before following. He scrubs at his eyes, trying to make the blurry path clearer. As he gets closer and closer to the mansion, he can hear Niki’s heart wrenching sobs. His back is leaned against the fence, curled in on himself, looking so very small and fragile. Sunoo falls to his knees beside him and moves Niki’s head to his shoulder, wrapping him as tightly as he can, desperately trying to hold all their broken pieces together.

It is a long time before Sunoo chokes out, “Niki, we have to get back inside before they notice.”

He freezes in Sunoo’s hold, then violently shakes his head. “No, no, we can’t go back, they lied-Jungwon-“

“We can’t leave the others,” he says firmly to both himself and Niki. As much as Sunoo’s head is screaming at him to never enter those gates again, he refuses to leave the others. When they leave, they will be together.

Sunoo half carries Niki back to their room, slightly struggling with the weight of the taller boy. When they get to his bed, they don’t even bother changing and just curl into one another. Sunoo falls into a fitful sleep, tears still leaking from the corners of his eyes.

In his dream, he is on an island. It is small, perhaps only a few square yards and ovular in shape. Completely bare, there is only sand and razor-sharp black rocks. The black waves roll silently onto the shore before receding once more. Sunoo tilts his head up to see a sky devoid of stars. A full moon hangs in that empty sea of black, giving off a cold light.

“So, you return.”

Sunoo glances down sharply and realizes where all the stars have gone. Sapphire and peridot stares back at him, twinkling all knowingly. The cat looks ethereal, otherworldly in the moonlight, its tail casually swinging back and forth.

“You’re not from my subconscious, are you?”

It chuckles softly. “Ah, he can be taught. No, no I am not.”

“What…what do you want?”

A too-wide smile slowly spreads across its furry face that deeply unsettles Sunoo. “To be entertained.”

“What?”

It ignores his question in favor of one of its own: “Would you like your friend to return to you? That is something well within my powers.”

The word _Yes_ sits on the very tip of his tongue, but he hesitates, knowing how this plays out in fairytales. “What’s the catch?”

The cat sits primly, tail curling over its front paws. “He won’t be quite the same. No one who comes back from the dead truly can be.”

“How different?”

The cat shrugs. “Stronger, faster, nearly immortal, it’s the least I can do given how fragile you humans are.”

Sunoo shakes his head. As much as he so desperately wants Jungwon back, if nothing more than to apologize to him, he can’t bring him back with such high risks and so many unknowns. He opens his mouth, ready to reject when he is interrupted.

“They’ll all die.”

Sunoo immediately deflates. “What do you mean?” he asks sharply.

The cat lazily starts to groom its face. “You, Niki….none of you make it out of that house alive.”

“How can you possibly know that?” he yells, fists clenched at his sides.

Its eyes open and sharply glare at him, making him feel small, infinitesimally insignificant next to this being, this _other_. “I hate repeating myself. As I said before, I am right about most things. _All_ things if I’m so inclined to put in the effort. But it is a fact: you and your friends _will_ die, one by one. At least if you accept, there’s something more after that.”

“What, what do you get out of it?”

The cat looks drolly at him. “I’m bored. I want to be entertained, and your story, with a minor tweak, could be quite entertaining.”

Sunoo is quiet for a long while, rolling it all over in his mind. The cat knew about the pills, hell, probably had been watching him even before he was kidnapped, so Sunoo couldn’t find a reason to doubt its assurance that he would die. He was of course terrified by this prospect, but what froze his heart was the thought of the others not surviving. Each of their smiles warmed him from the tips of his toes the to very top of his head, and their pain brought tears to his eyes. No, if they were cursed with such a bleak fate, Sunoo was determined to change it. Even if it was just for the entertainment of a cosmic being, Sunoo would not take his destiny lying down. He will fight and make it his own.

“Yes,” he says firmly.

The cat smiles. “Yes what? You have to be very clear.”

“Yes, I want my friend back.”

***

It’s been only about a few hours since Niki and Sunoo returned to the house. They can’t let on that anything is different, not until they tell the others, Sunoo tells Niki, so they get dressed in fresh cloths and go downstairs together. They find the rest of the boys in the sitting room, waiting on breakfast. They take a seat on the couch as the others stare bleary eyed into the middle distance or make soft, short conversation. A sharp rapping cuts through the early morning calm. Everyone looks around trying to find its source. Heeseung gasps sharply, having caught sight of it first. Sunoo turns to where he is looking and freezes. There, standing at the window, palm leaned against the glass is-

“Jungwon!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There were two scenes from the "Given-Taken" mv that I absolutely had to include, and Jungwon knocking at the window was one of them. I've found ways to allude to a lot more than those two, but you can probably easily figure out the second main one.
> 
> I think it's a touch cliché, having Sunoo and Niki overhear a major plot point while the nursemaids talk in the scullery, but I couldn't find a better way to get the scenes to flow.
> 
> We're about to enter disturbing territory. A lot is told through conversation, since Sunoo doesn't directly witness it, but you have been warned.
> 
> And on that wonderful note, I hope you have a wonderful day!


	4. I'll Give You My Blood, Blood, Blood, Blood

Niki is the first out the door, Sunoo and Heeseung close behind. Niki launches himself at Jungwon who doesn’t even stumble back from the force. He just returns the hug with a bright grin, stroking his hair as Niki bawls his heart out. Heeseung is just a moment behind and ruffles Jungwon’s hair, he gasps once quietly, then quickly smiles softly, before rubbing circles on Niki’s back. Sunoo slowly approaches, then tentatively grabs his sleeve, makings sure what he is seeing is real, that this isn’t a dream. “Jungwon, I am so sorry, I-”

Jungwon turns to look him in the eye, and Sunoo is shocked to see they are no longer brown. Before he can really process this, he hears Jungwon say, “It’s not your fault.”

And the dam holding his tears back breaks, and he’s hugging them both, these two boys who mean so much to him in a scarily short amount of time. He feels Heeseung ruffle his hair softly. Sunoo pulls back and swipes at his eyes, hiccupping a few times but determined to say his piece. “Even if it’s not my fault and you’re back, I still feel so guilty. We could have waited for mine, it didn’t have to be you-”

“What are you talking about?” Heeseung asks, confusion furrowing his brow. Niki leans away from Jungwon’s neck, glancing around at the three others’ faces.

“It’s a long story, and I’d like to tell it just once, if that’s alright?”

“Sure,” Heeseung says, glancing between Sunoo and Jungwon meaningfully.

Niki holds tight as Jungwon begins to walk towards the trio that just rounded the corner.

As the three give Jungwon hugs and have an over joyous reunion, Sunoo observes Jungwon. He’s still dressed in his night clothes, and now that Sunoo looks closer, there’s some dirt on him. His hair is a few shades lighter than he remembers it being. No longer black, it is now a warm, medium brown. And his eyes. They used to be so dark they were nearly black, and now they are amber. Sunoo is sure there are more subtle changes he’s not picking up on, but as he sees Jungwon laugh at something Sunghoon and Jake are jokingly arguing over, eyes closed shut from his mirth, Sunoo knows at his core, it is still the same Jungwon. As long as that remains the same, he can help him work through anything else.

Sunoo rejoins the group, and they head back to the house with smiles and laughter. It is as they reach the doorway that something peculiar happens. Jungwon freezes, jerking Niki who's attached to his side to a stop and Jake crashing into his back, not reacting in time.

"Whoa, why'd you stop?" Jake says, rubbing his shoulder.

All eyes are on Jungwon. He furrows his eyebrows. "I'm, I’m not sure." His eyes find Sunoo's, and he can see a hint of fear swirling around with the confusion.

"It's not like you're suddenly unwelcome here just cause you were gone a few days, you can step inside," Jay says jokingly. His words have a physical effect on Jungwon, who literally stumbles forward. Jay and Heeseung catch his shoulders with a shout of surprise.

"Are you alright? What was that?" Heeseung says as Jungwon straightens.

"I don't know," Jungwon's eyes dart around the worried faces. He wets his lips then tries to explain. "It’s like I walked into a wall, and just couldn't move past, then suddenly it was gone."

"Like your legs froze up? Here, let's get you to a chair. Are you sure you should be walking around?" Sunghoon wraps his arm around Jungwon's shoulders and leads him to the sitting room.

"I felt fine until just then," Jungwon says as he sits down, the boys all sitting nearby, not letting him out of their sight. Sunoo is still reeling from everything that is happening and can barely keep up.

"What were you doing outside? I know there's an exterior staircase from the basement, but why didn't you just use the normal one?" Heeseung asks.

"I didn't, I-" Jungwon is cut off by a crash coming from the next room. All eyes go to Jaegin, who's eyes are as wide as saucers. She disregards the tray of food she just dropped and immediately runs to the basement staircase.

"....what was that about? You'd think she'd just seen a ghost with that reaction," Sunghoon says with a laugh. Sunoo, Niki and Jungwon freeze, but it goes unnoticed by the others since Jake and Jay immediately shout, "Don't even joke about that!" and "Please, anything but ghosts!"

Sunghoon apologizes half-heartedly, and it sets Jay off on a rant. Before he can get more than a sentence in though, the basement door opens to reveal Jaegin and the Doctor who approaches the group quickly. Everyone straightens: they've never seen the Doctor leave the basement.

His eyes immediately home in on Jungwon, disbelief flashing briefly before curiosity takes over. "Jungwon, I know I said I'd release you today, but I need to do one final checkup. Would you please come downstairs?"

"He's not going anywhere with you," Sunoo says harshly, glaring at the gray-haired man. The others look at Sunoo in shock, but he has eyes only for the Doctor.

"That's fine," Jungwon says softly. Sunoo whips his head around, about to shout again but Jungwon cuts him off with, "maybe a checkup will clear up some questions." Jungwon holds Sunoo's stare imploringly. "I don't quite feel like...like myself," he adds softly.

Sunoo's shoulders slump, the fight draining out of him. He knew why Jungwon felt different, but seeing the fear in Jungwon's eyes, he realizes his friend does not. Sunoo can't imagine how scared he probably was, waking up in the woods alone, wondering why he was still breathing. This probably all felt like a surreal after death dream to him.

If a checkup with a shady doctor is what will convince Jungwon that he is among the living and possibly clear up some questions, then Sunoo would allow it, but, "I'm coming downstairs with you." He stares the Doctor dead in the eye. "For moral support."

He hesitates for only just a moment, "Of course, I could never deny such a caring friend's request. Now, shall we?" he waves a hand.

Sunoo can feel his friends’ eyes boring holes into him and Jungwon as they separate themselves from the pile. He turns around, seeking Niki's eyes. There are tears on his lashes and all Sunoo wants is to brush them away, but it will have to wait. "We'll be back, I promise." And then he turns around and moves towards the stairs. Jungwon grabs his hand for comfort and Sunoo squeezes back as they descend.

It is the first time Sunoo has been able to see the basement. The floor is stone and there are wall sconces illuminating white walls. The stairway empties into a small square space. There is a hallway ahead and an archway to the right that opens up to a large room with a few chairs and tables. A door on the far end is cracked open to reveal a tub, _must be a bathroom_. Sudden movement on the sofa catches his eye as a dog perks up. It’s a small brown and white dog with heavily lidded eyes and a square face. It yawns and shakes its massive jowls. It blinks peacefully back at him, no hidden intelligence or stars shine behind its eyes, it is simply a dog. Sunoo refocuses as the Doctor starts to walk down the hallway. There are two doors before the hallway bends to the right. The Doctor opens the one on the left and gestures them in. Jungwon and Sunoo step into what must be the exam room, with a small wooden desk and a metal exam table taking up most of the room. He sits beside Jungwon on the table and eyes the Doctor distrustfully as he scribbles down a note and hands it to Jaegin. “Give this to Yeonji, please.”

She glances at the note, eyebrows furrowing, before returning her eyes to the Doctor’s face. “But I can’t leave you with-”

“Don’t you have a mess upstairs to attend to?”

She huffs, eyes the boys distrustfully, then turns on her heels. The Doctor closes the door and sits on the lone stool. He rubs his chin as he stares at Jungwon, wonder in his eyes.

"You were dead," he says, and Jungwon freezes. "No pulse, not breathing and yet, here you are. Amazing," he says with a slow smile. 

“What drugs were you giving me? How did I come back from being…dead?” The word is hard for Jungwon to say, to accept. Sunoo of course knows this is all the cat’s doing, but he didn’t want to discuss the cosmic being in front of the Doctor. It’s different on a human face, but he now recognizes the look of a man fine with using others for his own gain.

“Well, I honestly wasn’t aware the drugs you were on could do this! A temporary death that looks like the patient died from a heart attack? Absolutely brilliant discovery!”

“Were you trying to kill us with those drugs?” Jungwon says angrily. “Just toying with us to see how much we could take before kicking it?”

“Well, that would be quite the waste of my test subjects,” he huffs. “I am a man of science, and I have been intrigued by a flower. Looks quite similar to a pansy, but it has only four petals. I’ve found that when processed and administered orally, it can cure a wide range of diseases in humans. But much like hemlock, it is also poisonous.”

Sunoo gasps. “You were giving us poison this whole time?”

The Doctor’s eyes sparkle. “Yes and no: it is a poison, but also a cure. Nature is fascinating, isn’t it?”

“Disturbing is what I’d call it,” Sunoo says.

This elicits a laugh from the rotund man. “Yes, yes, that is another way of looking at it. Semantics aside, I presume you figured out what the white pills do, yes?”

“They cause the health issues. _You’ve_ been causing our health issues,” Jungwon says pointedly.

“Guilty as charged, ha! But all in the name of science, I assure you.”

“A mockery of science you mean.” Jungwon scowls. “So, you make this drug that cures everything but one dose too many and the patient ends up dead?”

“Ah, but you’re not dead, are you? And why are your physical features different? Perhaps, even more than physical is different.”

“That is the only reason I haven’t stood up and left this room. Check my vitals, run some tests, tell me what is wrong with me.”

The Doctor’s eyes practically twinkle. “Of course!”

He hustles about getting tools in order as Sunoo forces Jungwon to face him. “You are all right.”

He smiles bitterly, “That’s nice of you to say Sunoo, but I was dead this morning, I think it’s a fair assessment to say there is absolutely something wrong.”

“No, I mean medical mysteries aside, you are still the Jungwon who is level headed, trustworthy and so utterly brilliant, who makes everyone laugh with a mere chuckle or grin, who I am proud to call my friend,” Sunoo places his hand on Jungwon’s heart. “ _You are still you._ ”

He tilts his head down, bangs covering his expression. Jungwon places a hand atop Sunoo’s and gives it a gently squeeze. “Thank you,” he says quietly. The Doctor is now back, so he dabs at the corners of his eyes and clears his throat. “I’m ready, let’s get this over with.”

***

Jungwon’s face pales as he watches the third inch-long scalpel cut heal back.

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” he mutters, rushing for the door.

“Jungwon, wait!” Sunoo calls after him, quick to follow him back upstairs.

When he gets to the top of the stairwell, he opens the door and pauses. Sunoo catches up right as the rest of the boys who were eating lunch stand up. At the sight of Jungwon, scared and pale, they rush to him. So hurriedly that Jake catches his foot on a chair leg and falls to the floor. He hisses and pulls out a shard of glass from his arm, presumably missed in the cleanup from earlier. In seconds, Jungwon has Jake’s arm in his grasp. He brings his arm to his mouth and he licks it, catching every drop of crimson. Then Jungwon’s eyes connects with Jake’s and he springs back, his hands covering his mouth and he runs from the room, up the stairs then a door slams loudly, echoing.

The room is dead silent for a few long moments. Then Heeseung asks shakily, “What happened down there? Why did Jungwon lick his blood?”

Sunoo swallows, then wets his lips before answering, “He is still the same Jungwon, I want to make that very clear,” he says firmly, “but, he’s just a bit… _different_ now.”

“Different how?” Jay asks.

“He was dead,” Niki announces. “Sunoo and I found his grave, he was dead and buried in the forest just last night, he was dead, _he was dead!_ ”

Heeseung sweeps the blubbering boy into his arms. “Whoa whoa whoa, slow down, what do you mean he was dead? He’s alive, Niki, he’s fine!”

“But he was dead,” Sunoo says softly and all eyes return to him. “You see, it was…” no sound passes through his lips. Sunoo furrows his brow and tries again, “It was….”

“ _Shhhh_ ,” the cat whispers in his mind, “ _it’s our little secret_.”

“….magic. He came back like it was magic.” The lie feels like ash on his tongue.

“Magic isn’t real,” Sunghoon affirms, reaching a hand out for Jake, “that’s just a fairytale excuse for what we can’t explain.”

Jake stands up with his help. “Ghosts are definitely real though, why not magic?”

“Refocus,” Heeseung returns his gaze to Sunoo. “Okay, so Jungwon is different now. Regardless of how, what exactly has changed?”

“A few physical differences: the obvious hair and eye color change, but also he’s a few degrees cooler and his heartbeat is slower. His blood is darker and thicker, and he heals minor injuries in seconds. Everything just knits itself back together. And…” he gestures to Jake, “whatever that was. I reiterate though: he is still Jungwon.”

They take a few moments, processing this information. Niki has calmed down, and steps back from Heeseung’s chest. “And he’s still my brother, no matter what.”

There are nods and small grunts of affirmation. Sunoo looks around at the grim but hopeful faces and once more thinks that he has been blessed, certainly not by a cat but by some unearthly being, to be surrounded by such wonderful people.

***

Sunoo knocks at the locked bathroom door.

“Go away!” Jungwon says weakly in a voice thick with tears.

“I’m not leaving. Open the door.”

“No. I’m a monster.”

“No, you’re-”

“ _Yes, I am!_ I licked Jake’s _blood_ , that’s the stuff out of nightmares! And I thought it tasted _good!_ God, I am a monster. Sunoo, please go away before I hurt you too.”

Sunoo sighs, sinking to the floor. He leans his back against the door. “Jungwon, what will it take to convince you you’re not a monster?” Silence is the only response Jungwon gives, so Sunoo gets up on his soapbox. “A monster doesn’t think about the feelings or wellbeing of others. You put others before yourself all the time. You’re one of the most self-less persons I’ve ever met. A monster is a big scary brute. You’re Jungwon, my cute little kid brother. A monster means that you are feared. I am not afraid of you Jungwon, I’m afraid _for_ you.”

“You should be though,” Jungwon says softly.

“Why? Because you heal faster? Because your heart beats slower? I don’t think you’ve realized this, but I am just so grateful your heart is beating _at all._ You were dead and gone, but now you’re back and you’re going to stay that way. And I am going to be right beside you, every step of the way. Now, could you please open this door?”

The door lock clicks, then it swings open. Sunoo steps inside and wraps his arms tightly around Jungwon as the boy buries his tearstained face into his shoulder. “Who could ever be scared of little Jungwonie,” Sunoo says, rubbing circles onto his back.

“Did you mean it?” he mumbles into his shirt.

“Mean what?”

“That you’ll stay.”

Sunoo huffs a laugh, pulling Jungwon slightly away so he can look him in the eye. “Yes, I mean it. I’m going to stay so close; you’re going to get absolutely _sick_ of me.” Then he tops it off with a kiss to the crown of Jungwon’s head.

“Gross,” he says with a smile.

***

Five sets of gentle eyes look up when Sunoo and Jungwon enter the storage room. Late afternoon light gives the room a warm glow as they quietly take a seat on an empty couch. Jungwon takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “I don’t even know where to start.”

“Let’s start with the pills,” Sunoo suggests. “I started to notice that there was a pattern to the pills we all received; we all got different colored pills normally, but there was always a white one the day before our symptoms got bad.”

“He told me about it, and I came up with the idea to skip the white one to figure out if it actually caused our symptoms and if the colored ones did anything.”

“When you went to look for books,” Heeseung mumbles quietly, rubbing his chest absent mindedly as he processes everything.

Jungwon nods. “Yeah, I forced myself to get sick to get the pill out of my system. Turns out we were right, the white causes our maladies, but the colored ones also did something, they weren’t just a placebo. Without a problem to fix though, they might as well be as bad as the white.” Sunoo takes his hand, knowing what is coming and Jungwon squeezes back gratefully. “ I….I died that night. I don’t remember much, just that Yeonji was pushing on my chest, trying to get me to breathe and the Doctor was giving me an injection, and then just…..black, like I had passed out. Sunlight woke me up. When I came to, I was in a field of flowers tangled in a sheet stained with dirt. It was so bright after all that darkness, but now I realize that _everything_ feels too bright, too loud, too strong of scent. I came back … _different._ ”

“Not different enough to change who you are though,” Niki says softly. Jungwon smiles gratefully back at him.

“Jungwon, I love you and all, but can we back up a minute?” Jay runs a hand through his hair. “So, we’re not actually sick? The _pills_ were the cause of the symptoms??”

“The white ones, yeah,” Sunoo replies.

Jay mutters a curse then starts to pace. The others don’t look particularly pleased either. Sunghoon suddenly sits up straight.

“We were given pills this morning, should we not have taken them?” Sunghoon asks, leaning forward in his chair.

“As long as they were not white, you should be fine. It seemed like they were starting to wean us off them,” Sunoo says. “The white was the start of the cycle, but the colored ones were actually a cure. A double-sided sword, but they did actually clear up the first drug.”

There’s a collective sigh of relief.

“Going by the pattern though, Jake and Heeseung shouldn’t take any more after tonight,” Jungwon says.

Jake rubs the back of his neck. “Jeez, how did you two memorize all that? I have trouble remembering the moves in a dance sequence Niki shows me.”

Jungwon straightens up in surprise. “Jake, I never even apologized! I am so sorry, what happened earlier will never happen again.”

“It’s alright,” Jake waves him off. “I’ll be honest, it did freak me out, but now we know just to be more careful is all.”

“How are you guys taking this so well?” Jungwon rubs at his eyes, trying to hide the tears that leaked out. Sunoo rubs his shoulder and Heeseung leans across the space to touch his knee in comfort.

“Because you’re family,” Heeseung says softly, which sets Jungwon’s tears off in earnest. “We’re gonna stick together, yeah?”

There are murmurs of agreement and Jungwon settles down. Sunoo looks around at all their faces and just basks in the peace, a moment to just breath.

Those moments never last for long though. When Niki asks, “So, are we going to leave?” it turns the silence contemplative.

Sunghoon leans back and lets out a long breath. “It’ll be about two weeks until the delivery company visits, right?”

“Yeah, just about,” Jay nods.

“Is there really no one else on this island?” Sunoo asks. “Not even a boat tucked somewhere?”

“First thing on the agenda tomorrow: search the island. We’ve never been past the gates, so we really don’t know,” Heeseung says.

“Question though,” Jake says raising his hand. “If we’re going to be refusing any more pills, are they gonna kick us out? Not give us food and fresh water anymore?”

Jungwon lets out a sigh, “I’m not sure. The Doctor knows we figured him out, and he will absolutely be serving time. That has to be illegal right? Testing drugs on us without permission?”

“He had our parent’s permission, though.” Jay lets out a frustrated groan. “Or not? We each arrived really out of it.”

“He definitely didn’t have my parent’s permission, they aren’t even in the country, haven’t been for years,” Niki says. All eyes are on him. Evidently, Sunoo is not the only one to have not heard this story.

“You mentioned living on the streets before, were your parents not with you then?” Sunoo asks.

“No. They came to this country seeking work but were arrested and deported. I hid from the police officers, and only came out when the carriage left. Lived on the street after that. Learned the language better, picked pockets to survive. It wasn’t an honest life, but it was my life and I wasn’t going to throw it away. When I got sick, really _really_ sick, I remember being cared for by a church, and then waking up here when my fever broke.” Niki looks down to his hands. “I don’t have anyone to go back to.”

“Niki,” Sunoo grips his shoulder. “You have a home, with us, right?” Nods and assurances. “You’re not getting left behind, you got that?”

Niki lets out a shaky breath and nods gratefully.

“Okay, back to the issues at hand,” Jungwon looks around the group. “So, we go explore tomorrow, see if there’s anyone here or if it is as desolate as the staff has implied. Maybe start nicking food from the kitchen and meals in case they throw us out?”

“And don’t take any more pills,” Sunoo adds.

“No more pills.”

***

It had been a very long and emotionally exhausting day. Niki had insisted on sleeping with Jungwon, so it was Sunoo alone in the bed. But something wakes him up in the middle of the night. As he rubs his eyes, Sunoo hears again what must have woken him up: gasping sobs coming from across the room.

"Jungwon? Whass wrong?"

"It's Niki, he's not breathing."

"What?" Sunoo immediately fumbles to strike a match and light the candle in the room.

Niki is cradled in Jungwon's arms and Jungwon has tear tracks down his face, but what captures Sunoo's attention is the blood. There is blood on Niki's lips, dripping down his chin and staining his night shirt and sheets.

"Is he bleeding?" Sunoo rushes over.

"No, it's my blood." Sunoo now realizes there is a wound on Jungwon's wrist, dripping. "I woke up, and he was so cold, not breathing. There was just, something in me, a voice that said give him some blood, I can apparently heal from anything, maybe it can heal Niki too, but god he's still not breathing, oh Sunoo, Niki, Niki!" he sobs, clutching the boy closer.

There's a shout across the hall and Sunoo takes one last glance before rushing to leave the room. Heeseung is ripping open the door to Jay and Sunghoon’s room, Sunoo just a hairsbreadth behind. Sunghoon is on a bed, propping Jay up while Jake sobs, frozen in shock and helplessness. Jay is gasping, having a hard time catching a breath.

"We need to get the nurses," Heeseung says ready to run out the door when he is stopped by Jay's gasping, "No, no nurses."

"He doesn't want them, thinking they'll just let him die alone like they did Jungwon," Sunghoon says, his face hard in the candlelight. "Shit, but what other option do we have?"

A thought occurs to Sunoo. “Did you all take pills this morning?”

“Yeah,” Jake whimpers out.

Sunoo curses himself for not asking them to clarify earlier. Jay and Niki stopped taking pills the day prior, they shouldn’t have had any today. How did Yeonji know to give them any? And then he remembers the note the Doctor scribbled out to Jaegin and curses aloud. Why are they always a step behind?

He looks over the faces before him, at Jay’s chest heaving, at Sunghoon’s shaking frame even as he calmly tries to reason with Jay, at Heeseung wrapping his arms around Jake who chokes back sobs. The conversation with the cat plays through Sunoo's mind:

_“They’ll all die.”_

_“What do you mean?”_

_“You, Niki….none of you make it out of that house alive.”_

_“How can you possibly know that?”_

_“I hate repeating myself. As I said before, I am right about most things. All things if I’m so inclined to put in the effort. But it is a fact: you and your friends will die, one by one. At least if you accept, there’s something more after that.”_

Ten to one odds, the cat was the voice Jungwon heard, getting them to play along. If playing along means saving his friends, Sunoo will bite his tongue for the time being. He turns around and goes back to his room and grabs Jungwon's shoulders. "You need to save Jay."

"Jay's dead?" he asks brokenly.

"Not yet and you're going to save him."

Jungwon hiccups his sobs down, but gently lays Niki down on the bed. He strokes his cheek and says, "I'll be right back, Niki." A morbid echo of Sunoo's own promise earlier in the day, but there's no time to dwell, Sunoo rushing Jungwon to the room across the hall.

"Jungwon heals from things quickly, his blood can help Jay."

"What?"

"Just trust me!" Sunoo shouts, forcing Jungwon forward. He sits beside Jay and lifts his own wrist to his mouth. His canines are suddenly _too long_ as they pierce his wrist, and then he places the dripping wound to Jay's mouth. Jay swallows a mouthful or two before violently coughing. He gasps a few times then falls deathly silent.

"Jay? Jay!" Sunghoon violently shakes his shoulders to no avail. He yells, curses him, insults him, begs him but nothing. Jungwon folds in on himself and Heeseung wraps Jake tighter, who shakes silently. Sunoo clutches his chest, catching himself on the end of the bed. He was wrong, he was wrong and Jay was dead and it was his fault, it was his fault again.

Each boy, trapped in their own suffering: the sobbing, the wailing, the self-blaming. Furniture is thrown around, the grief overwhelming. Why did they have to die why _why **why** -_

A gasping breath cuts through every other sound and thought. Jay is breathing. _Jay is breathing._

Everyone is too shocked, too sure it's their imagination, then Jay begins to laugh.

"Why the hell are you laughing?" Sunghoon hoarsely shouts.

"I always wanted to laugh in the face of death." 

"I'm going to strangle you."

"Don't want to push my luck, probably won’t come back a second time tonight."

"Just shut up, Jay," Sunghoon sobs into his shoulder, holding him tight. Then everyone is hugging him, and there's so many tears and arms everywhere and Sunoo desperately wants this to be the last time his broken heart is pieced back together. Then Jungwon freezes and begins to untangle himself with a shout of "Niki!" Sunoo starts to untangle himself as well, the others finally registering that Niki isn’t in the room when Jungwon screams.

Sunoo barrels into their room and sees why. Niki is gone.

***

They spent hours searching, calling out Niki’s name till their voices went hoarse. Sunoo collapses onto the porch step, weary down to his bones. He looks up at the sky as it lightens, the sun not yet over the horizon. He’s slept only a handful of hours in the past two days, all he wants is to close his eyes, just push the world away for a little while, but he knows he can’t. He looks around at the equally weary faces of Sunghoon, Heeseung, and Jungwon.

The path from the gate wound through the dense trees before opening up and dipping down to a beach with a dock in decent condition compared to the ramshackle boat house next to it. There really was no one else on the island. And so far, no sign of Niki. They all wanted to keep going, to start looking through the woods, but Heeseung insisted that the at least eat and rest for a bit, or else they would just be liable to hurt themselves, stumbling through the woods. Nothing lived in the woods as far as they could tell, and if Niki was anything like Jay, he probably was sleeping it off.

Heeseung got up, groaning. “Come on, up, up. If the nurses are unwilling to cook, I’ll scrounge up something.” He walks through the door and Sunghoon and Jungwon reluctantly got to their feet. Sunoo closes his eyes and lets out a slow breath. When he opens them, Jungwon’s hand is in front of his face. He accepts it and is pulled to his feet.

Sunoo looks over his friend. Over the course of the morning, the glow in his amber eyes had dimmed, and now it was back to its previous dark brown color. His hair remained the same chocolate brown, but he said his senses were no longer as sharp. Sunoo wonders if giving blood drained him, and he needs time or blood to recharge. _Another time_ , he tells himself, _get Niki back first before asking more questions._

Sunoo releases his still too cold hand and the two walk inside. They enter the sitting room to find Sunghoon and Heeseung gently waking Jake and Jay. Jay’s amber eyes open, then close again as he yawns. He runs a hand through his now blonde hair and asks, “Nothing?”

“Not yet.” Heeseung sighs. “We’re going to search the forest after a few hours of sleep, everyone’s dead on their feet.”

Jay opens his mouth to say something but then his eyes dart to the open archway. The others turn to see what had caught his attention. Yeonji was setting a platter of cut fruit and toast near silently on the table. Everyone’s postures stiffen when she turns to look at them. She slowly, gently approaches them, hands raised.

“I just wanted to tell you that there is nothing wrong with the food, and the last doses of your antidotes are laid out.”

“Why should we believe you? For all we know, you drugged the food,” Jungwon accuses.

She lets out a sad little laugh. “You don’t have to but please believe me on this: you wouldn’t have gotten pills if the Doctor could have figured out a way to simply add it to food.” Her eyes were tired, shoulders weary, and her smile was terribly sad. She curtsies, then leaves for her room.

It’s silent for a long while, which seemed to happen a lot lately. Jay eventually lets out a grunt as he rises from his seat and herds them into the dining room. They take the pills after being inspected by Jungwon and Sunoo and start to eat. Jay is eager to help search, saying he feels fine, better than fine really. Heeseung still wants him to rest, but he is insistent, and so the eldest relents and says after they all take a nap, Jay can join when they comb through the forest.

The basement door opens then, startling everyone at the table, and the Doctor steps out. He flips about something in his fingers, and Sunoo fears what the gleeful look in his eyes foreshadows.

“Ah, so glad I could catch you this morning,” he says with a saccharine smile.

“We were just leaving,” Sunghoon says, getting up from the table.

“Ah, ah, ah, I think you’ll want to hear what I have to say.”

“Shove it, old man,” Jay says harshly. “We’ve figured you out. Testing drugs to treat problems you caused in the first place? Disgusting. We’re not taking any more pills and we’re sure as hell not listening to you. The next boat here has our name on it, expect the one after to have a warrant with your name on it.”

The rest are both surprised and not surprised at all that Jay went off. Sunoo certainly doesn’t blame Jay, seeing as he himself and Jungwon had told off the man just yesterday, but he doesn’t think now is the time to go telling the Doctor that they plan to get the police involved. They have numbers on their side if push came to shove, but they weren’t monsters and didn’t want to hurt him or anything so extreme. No, they wanted him to face punishment for his crimes.

Sunoo refocuses on the doctor as he lets out a short laugh. “Ah, have it all planned out, do you? Such intelligent boys, after my own heart! I’d offer you an apprenticeship, but I imagine you’d turn me down. A pity really. Yet another, on top of your fruitless search.”

“Do you know where Niki is?” Jungwon demands, taking a step forward.

Before he can take another, the Doctor blows into what looks like a whistle, but Sunoo hears nothing. Jungwon and Jay are on the floor, clutching their ears, and there’s a loud barking coming from downstairs. He stops blowing and the two on the floor let out a sigh of relief.

“What was that?” Jake asks shakily, getting Jay back on his feet.

“A noise you never want to hear again. I didn’t expect such a reaction, very interesting; unintentional, but interesting.” He shakes his head, getting back on track. “My wonderful Charles, as you just heard, absolutely detests this whistle. He barks at nothing but its piercing tone, which makes it perfect as an alarm of sorts. You see, I do have your friend, Niki, downstairs-”

“You’ve had him all this time, let him go!” Jay shouts.

“Tut, tut, and lose a perfectly good bargaining chip? I wouldn’t dream. No, you’ll be listening to me or your friend will die.”

“He’s alive though?” Jungwon asks for confirmation, despite everything else, that is the news they so desperately want to hear.

“Yes, the boy breathes, but only so long as you do as I ask. I have Jaegin permanently stationed in his room, and at my call or the bark of my dog, she will kill him.”

Everyone pales. “I thought you said we were too valuable to kill,” Sunoo says stiffly.

“Oh, you are, there’s so much I want to know and test about this phenomenon we have stumbled upon! But I know that you won’t listen to me if there’s nothing at stake. And you treasure him, see him as _family_ , hm? Yes, I thought that to be my only way, in this hopeless situation. But I’ll tell you what, you can leave on the next boat, I’ll even let Niki go with you, and you can go chat with the police and tell them what an absolutely wretched man I am and all that I’ve done, but you know what? Once they hear that I have discovered how to bring people back from the dead, I won’t serve any time. I will be praised and admired, and my work will bring about a utopian world where no one has to die, at least,” he smiles sharply, “for a price.”

“You’re a monster,” Sunghoon says tersely.

The Doctor laughs heartily. “Your opinions do so amuse me. Go, rest up, I shall call upon you tomorrow for the first trial I have in mind. If you find yourself bored, maybe lend a hand to Yeonji. We’re down a nursemaid, and the poor dear will be running herself ragged caring for the house alone.” He opens the basement door, then turns around and says, “Oh, and Jungwon, thank you for the blood sample yesterday. I learned quite a number of interesting things and will be getting more for future tests. Do please avoid monkshood, would you? Your blood seemed to evaporate upon contact with it. Would hate to know what it does to the person intact.” And then the door closes behind him.

Jungwon slumps forward on the floor and is quiet for a few moments, before slamming his fists down repeatedly. “It’s my fault, it’s all my fault! I should never have left Niki, never have asked the Doctor to test anything. God, I’m such a _fool!_ ”

Sunoo crouches beside his friend, holding tight even as he tries to pull away. “Jungwon, listen to me! We’re going to get through this, alright? We are going to get through this, and we are going to get Niki, and we are going to leave. He’s thrown the pills out and just wants to test your blood, right? At worst, we become like you, Jay, and Niki.” Jungwon opens his mouth, about to retort so Sunoo plows forward. “And that is not a bad thing! You are not a monster, and none of us will be either. So you like blood, so what? I don’t see you chomping at the bit to get mine or Heeseung’s or Jake’s or Sunghoon’s. In fact, you gave others blood to save them. You’re not a story book monster, and you _saved_ Niki and Jay last night, alright? They were dying and you saved them. You’re not a monster, but _he is_ , you have to remember that. And he will pay, ignore his delusions of grandeur, _he will pay_.”

Jungwon clings to him as he relearns how to breathe.

“You’re right,” Heeseung says softly, his volume increasing as he continues. “we are the victims, and we will get our retribution. Two weeks, two weeks and we leave together and never come back here again.”

The others nod, grim and determined.

Two weeks, just two weeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to my MacGyver solution of how to make vampires the underdogs.
> 
> Honestly though, this chapter was so hard to write. I realized as soon as I was writing Jungwon entering the house that there was nothing stopping him from forcing the staff to do what he wants and him not changing any of his friends. And so, we must have some drama to let the experiments and turning ensue.
> 
> Fun facts:  
> *The dog is literally only there because I’m holding to the late Victorian setting and can’t have walkie talkies or button alarms. (Even though the 'Given-Taken' MV doesn’t even adhere to this logic with its flashlights and ceiling fans) No harm will come to this doggo.  
> *I don’t currently have a photocard binder, so they just sit on my desk. Occasionally, while I’m writing, I’ll just turn and see Sunoo in his beret, smiling and giving me a peace sign and I’ll just apologize for what’s going on in the story;;;
> 
> This fic has gotten so out of my hands, haha. Lots of twists I didn’t plan for in my initial timeline, but I’m really excited to see how everything turns out, hope you are too!
> 
> Hope you are all looking forward to the concert tomorrow! It’s 6 am my time but that just means my MoArmyGene butt is gonna be hyped up before the sun is even up, cheering on my boys. Hope you are able to catch it live or view it later. Regardless, good riddance 2020, let’s hope for a better 2021!


	5. Given or Taken

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 12/31-Went back to ch1 and added in a few descriptors that I’ve had in my head but evidently never mentioned in the fic itself (literally only 2 sentences, not worth rereading):  
> *Yeonji has long straight black hair that she normally wears in a low bun. She looks to be in her mid-twenties.  
> *All the boys have black hair initially.
> 
> I changed the titles for ch1 and 2 to match the theme of song lyrics and titles. For those curious, they were originally “An Introduction” and “All the Better to See You With.”
> 
> I try to describe a number of different shades of vampire eye color in this chapter, but if you’d like an even better mental image, look up a honey color guide. Sounds odd, but it is the exact color range I am describing.

Just as they were finishing up breakfast, the basement door swings open. All eyes turn to glare at the Doctor, who simply smiles at them.

“Morning, boys, how are you feeling?” Silence is the only reply. “Not too chatty, are we? To each their own, I suppose. Sunghoon, come to my office when you finish up, yes?” He nods, then without waiting for a reply returns back down the stairs.

Sunghoon sighs and gets up, standing behind his chair as he turns to the rest of the boys sitting at the table. “Don’t wait for me, just fill me in later.”

“Are you sure?” Jungwon asks.

“Yeah, something tells me this isn’t just a normal checkup,” his tone is level, but Sunoo can see his hands tremble slightly where they grip the top of the chair. “Well, regardless of what happens, at least we have an ace up our sleeve, right?” He smiles but it doesn’t reach his eyes. He releases the chair and is immediately swept into a hug by Jake. The curl of his lips is more genuine now. He pats Jake’s shoulders after separating then begins to head towards the stairs and then pauses. “Does…does it hurt?” he asks softly. “Dying?”

“No,” Jay says, “like going to sleep.”

Sunghoon lets out a snort. “You’ve never been a very good liar.” And then the door clicks behind him and the sound of his footsteps fade.

Heeseung lets out a long, slow breath, then nods to himself. “Okay, let’s head out. Dwelling does us no good.”

The others nod and get up from their seats, heading out the front door and through the gate. They decided the day prior that they should get to know if any of their physical abilities changed when they, well, _changed_. It was agreed upon after Jay, quite understandably, freaked out not being able to see himself in the mirror. They needed to learn what they could and couldn’t do, the sooner the better.

Sunoo stops a few steps outside the gate, the others looking at him questioningly. “Okay, you guys mentioned that your senses feel sharper, right?”

“Yeah,” Jay says.

“Alright, let’s test how far you can see.” Sunoo moves Jungwon, Jay, and Heeseung into a line, then points down the trial. “I’m going to hold up my fingers, and we’ll see how far I go before you can’t answer correctly anymore.”

The answer is quite a distance. Jake has to eventually take up the role of answer relayer, standing at the midpoint between Sunoo and the trio. Heeseung, as predicted, has the worst sight of the three and they mark the distance he answered wrong with a branch. Jungwon is next, about one and a half times the distance Heeseung could see till and Sunoo hits the tree line while Jay is still answering correctly, over three times the normal vision distance. Sunoo jogs back to join the others. As he’s catching his breath, he looks down the line from black, brown, to amber eyes and thinks they will see a pattern in their tests.

Next, they head down to the beach and try out some more physical trials. They use the wet sand to mark how far they can jump. Sunoo and Jake give it a go but fall short of Heeseung with his long limbs. Jungwon essentially matches Heeseung’s distance, and Jay goes nearly a full quarter more.

They spend all day trying out various activities, pausing only to eat lunch. Tree climbing, sprinting, hearing, how large a rock they can lift, how long can they balance on one foot, how far can they throw, and the pattern remains the same: Jungwon has decently better results than the unchanged trio, but Jay blows them all out of the water.

The sky is starting to darken as Sunoo lies on the grass beside the mansion, watching the others arm wrestle. It’s actually pretty evenly matched between Jake and Jungwon, but Sunoo isn’t sure if Jungwon is going easy for the sake of Jake’s pride or if they are truly matched. Jake lets out a shout when his wrist hits the grass, demanding a rematch with the other arm from the dimpled youth across from him.

“You already said you weren’t using your stronger arm in the first round, are you suddenly ambidextrous now?” Jay chuckles from the sidelines. No one even bothered challenging Jay, knowing he would win. Jake groans face down on the ground to the amusement of the others.

Sunoo clears his throat, eyeing Jungwon. “I’d like to try something, but I think Jungwon won’t like it.”

“What is it?” Jake asks, sitting up.

“Jungwon changed two people two nights ago, right? That probably took a lot out of him since his eyes aren’t as bright as before, and even before the change, there wasn’t this great of a disparity between you and Jay, right?”

“Right,” Heeseung stretches the word, the tilt to his head indicating he hasn’t caught on quite yet.

“So, what if he needs some blood to recharge?”

“No,” is Jungwon’s immediate and firm answer.

“Jungwon-”

“I’m not drinking your blood.”

Sunoo sighs. He knew Jungwon would be reluctant. He tried to hide it, but Sunoo noticed that he was actually happy that his senses and physical abilities were closer to normal. Sunoo honestly didn’t want to push his friend on this point, but as they all agreed this morning, they needed to know their limits and what changing really did to them. He straightens his shoulders and asks, “Did you drain Jake dry?”

“What?” he exclaims in surprise.

“Did you take more than a lick of Jake’s blood?”

“No…”

“So you have the self-control to stop yourself? You want it but don’t need blood, correct?”

“I…yes?”

“Then let’s try it out. We have to know the limits, right?” Sunoo holds out his wrist and Jungwon flinches back. “I trust you,” he says softly. “You didn’t hurt Jake, and you won’t hurt me.”

“If he doesn’t want to, he doesn’t have to, Sunoo,” Heeseung says with a slight glare before softly looking at Jungwon’s conflicted face. “We learned a lot today, you don’t have to push yourself, alright?”

“No, no, Sunoo’s right,” Jungwon rubs his eyes then clears his throat. “We said we’d learn our limits, and this is one of them. And I stopped with Jake, so I _will_ stop again.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Heeseung reluctantly nods, giving his arm a squeeze. Jungwon gets up and joins Sunoo. He nervously sits beside Sunoo and ever so gently holds his wrist up to his mouth. Sunoo watches as Jungwon’s perfectly normal canines grow a half inch in length before he feels a sharp prick at his wrist, causing him to hiss. Jungwon’s teeth are removed but his lips remain sealed to Sunoo’s wrist as he laps up the free-flowing blood. It feels….strange, very strange, not necessarily bad but also not very good. It’s uncomfortable, but certainly not painful enough to yank his wrist away. Sunoo glances up when he hears a loud groan from Jay, who has a hand over his mouth and nose.

“That shouldn’t smell as amazing as it does. At least I sort of knew what was coming, but no wonder you acted on instinct before.”

Jungwon hums, then removes himself from Sunoo’s wrist after one final lick. Sunoo watches in amazement as the two circular holes stop bleeding and instantly clot. When he looks up, Jungwon’s burnt orange eyes catch his attention. They seem even brighter than when Jungwon knocked at the window two days ago, certainly brighter than Jay’s amber. “Go arm wrestle Jay,” he says suddenly.

Jungwon glances at Jay, then back to Sunoo. “Uh, sure.” He hops to his feet with renewed energy and quickly gets into position with Jay. Heeseung shakes their joined hands around a few times before suddenly letting go with a shouted “Start!”

In the blink of an eye, Jay has lost, no is one more surprised than Jungwon himself.

“Try jumping,” Jake motions up and down with his hands.

Jungwon gets to his feet then is in the air for _entirely too long_ of a time. He lands gracefully despite the look of pure shock and bewilderment on his face. Heeseung wraps him in a hug which Jungwon sinks bonelessly into as they all process what just happened.

“Okay, so eye color gives an indication of strength, good to know,” Jay says, pushing his bangs back then rubbing his neck.

“And it seems that blood just to boosts your strength I guess?” Jake adds.

Sunoo nods. “Yeah, seems like.”

Jungwon loosens his hold on Heeseung to look at the others. “I only had two teacups worth or less and my veins feel like they are tingling.” Jungwon worriedly looks over to Sunoo. “You alright, Sunoo? I didn’t have too much, did I?”

Sunoo starts to get to his feet, waving off his concern. “Yeah, yeah, I feel, whoa-” but then lightheadedness hits him full force and he stumbles a bit. He’s immediately supported by Jungwon’s arm and looks over to his pinched face. “Just a bit lightheaded, otherwise fine.”

“It’s almost time for dinner, let’s sit him at the table till it passes,” Heeseung says reasonably.

The others get up from the grass and start to head inside. Sunoo wraps his arm around Jungwon’s shoulders, knowing he wouldn’t let go of him till he was sitting down again. As they start to move, he notices in the corner of his eye that Jungwon’s lips are still turned down in a slight frown. “I promise, you didn’t take too much and I’ll be fine.”

Jungwon glances over at him then lets out a breath looking forward again. “Things are just changing too fast and I’m struggling to keep up. It doesn’t help that on top of that I keep thinking at any moment I’ll just wake up on the exam table and everything will be back to normal. Is it bad that a part of me really wants that to be true? To not have these crazy abilities?”

Sunoo hums. “No, I think that’s a perfectly reasonable way to feel.” He snorts. “Honestly, I think a part of all of us just wants to wake up, but this is our new normal, and I’d rather grow to be okay with that than live trapped in ‘what if’s and regret.”

Jungwon huffs a short laugh. “When’d you get so wise?”

“Hey, I am older than you.”

Jungwon just rolls his eyes. “Sure sure, whatever you say, old man.”

***

Sunghoon doesn’t return that evening. When they ask Yeonji what is going on in the morning, she shakes her head, saying she’s not privy to the Doctor’s plans and she hadn’t seen Sunghoon when she brought meals downstairs. The boys try to not dwell on the uneasy feeling, and instead go outside once more, seeing how much improved Jungwon is compared to the day prior. Both Jay and Jungwon’s eyes are nearly the same shades as yesterday, and Jungwon shows a marked improvement over anything Jay can manage, which is saying a lot. This cycle repeats, with the uneasiness in Sunoo’s chest growing more and more as Sunghoon remains downstairs.

It is the morning of the fourth day since he was called downstairs when the lock on the basement door clicks. Five sets of eyes immediately lock onto the door as it swings open to reveal not who they were hoping for.

“Jungwon, would you mind coming downstairs for a bit?” the Doctor asks.

“Where’s Sunghoon? Is he trapped along with Niki?” he demands, gripping the edge of the table.

“No, no, they are not together, but I think Sunghoon will be fine if I can just have your assistance.”

Jay is immediately on his feet. “You mean you haven’t changed him? What have you even been doing down there?”

“Testing out a theory, of course. Studying new phenomena demands a rigorous and through investigation, and I won’t skimp just because there is a deadline. Now, Jungwon, please follow me.”

“Will you let him come back or is he going downstairs for good?” Sunoo asks with a hard tone.

“Yes, yes, both will be released later today. Satisfied?” his tone is annoyed, and he doesn’t wait for a response. “Jungwon, downstairs, now.” And then he leaves.

Jungwon takes a quick glance around the four other faces then hesitantly but hurriedly follows the Doctor down the stairs. The four decide to wait in the sitting room and pass the time with the piano. It is nearing lunch time, and they are debating breaking down the door when it opens, Jungwon struggling to maneuver with Sunghoon heavily leaning on him as they walk into the dining room. Immediately, the other four rush over to help. Sunghoon looks dead on his feet supported between Heeseung and Jay, but his eyes are amber and his hair deep blue gray, so he’s obviously been changed.

Jake stays ahead of the trio, moving things and jogging up the stairs before them to open the doors. “Nice to have you back, what took you so long?” Jay asks softly as they start making their way up the stairs. Sunghoon just hums, too tired for their normal banter so Jay just pats his back a bit.

Sunoo takes one look at Jungwon, who’s obviously been crying, and wraps him in a hug. He closes his eyes, darker than when he had left a few hours earlier, as he leans gratefully into Sunoo. “He was dead,” he says softly. “He was dead for four days, Sunoo, _four days._ ”

“What?” Sunoo pulls back and wipes away the fresh tears on Jungwon’s face as he continues.

“The Doctor still thought it was the drug that changed us, thought the blood was just from Niki biting his tongue. He had Sunghoon laying in a tub, expecting him to change. God, the _smell_.” He clutches Sunoo’s shirt tightly and shakes his head. “I wanted to yell, to scream at the Doctor, but he had that damned whistle to his lips, so I turned back to Sunghoon. I bit my wrist again and gave him my blood. It took longer than with Jay, and more blood, but he came back, gasping, and I was just so thankful, so thankful that I could bring him back.”

Sunoo wraps him tight in a hug again, this time for himself as he processes this news. Was this really their fate? He desperately didn’t want it to be, didn’t want to know that death was an assured fact for himself and his friends, but that cat…He closes his eyes and holds Jungwon tighter, wanting this nightmare to end.

But it wasn’t over, not yet.

And Sunoo knew, somewhere, the cat delighted in their misery.

***

The next morning, the door once again swings open revealing the Doctor with a journal and the whistle in hand. He shuts the door behind him and calls for Yeonji. She appears around the corner just a few moments later, hastily approaching. Her normally well-kept hair looks limp and under her eyes were very obvious bags, but she straightens her posture and puts on a neutral expression as she stands before the Doctor.

“Yes, Doctor, what do you-”

The Doctor shoves the journal into her hands. “You will be taking notes for me.” He turns to the boys. “Today, I would like to see what your physical capabilities are. The exam room is much too small for this, so we are headed outside.” He waves his hand, encouraging the boys to get a move on.

Sunoo gets up from his chair reluctantly and follows the others outside. Eyes quickly connect and there’s a silent agreement to not show their full capabilities. If the Doctor goes back on his word, which they all assume the slimy excuse for a man will, they would need some way to keep the upper hand.

As soon as they all are outside, the Doctor stands at the foot of the steps with Yeonji behind him, poised to jot down whatever he says. Sunghoon, Jungwon, and Jay keep their demonstrations limited to Jungwon’s initial displays when his eyes were brown with Jungwon and Jay going first and Sunghoon matching their performance as best he can. Sunoo keeps glancing over to the two adults to see their reactions. The Doctor’s eyes shine, as if he’s excited by the prospect that not only can he beat death, but also sell this as coming back even better than before. Yeonji on the other hand has a slightly pinched brow as she glances between the boys performing superhumanly and the Doctor.

The Doctor claps his hands, a wide smile on his face. “Marvelous display, my boys! I ask for your cooperation for one last thing today, then I will leave you to your own devices. If you three would please come downstairs for just a moment, I’d like a sample of your blood.”

He reaches a hand out to Yeonji who hands over his journal. “Thank you,” he says shortly, his eyes immediately returning to the boys. He strokes the little silver whistle between two fingers, seeing the hesitance in the trio’s stance. “Follow me, please.” And then he’s moving inside.

Uneasy glances are shared amongst the boys before Jungwon, Sunghoon, and Jay follow the Doctor inside. Heeseung lets out a sigh and rubs the back of his head while Jake bits his lip nervously. Sunoo wrings his hands, worried about what the Doctor will do with more blood to play with.

“Keep hiding as much as you can.”

The three boys are surprised, turning to Yeonji who remains standing on the porch.

“Excuse me?” Jake asks.

“I was out hanging laundry two days ago and caught sight of some of the things they are now capable of.” She sees them freeze up, so she lifts her hands and waves them. “Don’t worry, I have no plans to correct his notes. It’s good that you are trying to hide things, but I’m not sure if it will stop him at this point.” She squeezes her hands together, knuckles paling. “I’m honestly afraid of letting whatever this is out, especially in his hands.”

“What are you edging around? Get to the point,” Heeseung asks firmly.

Yeonji’s posture straightens, resolute. “I want to help you.”

Sunoo makes eye contact with Jake and Heeseung, sees the matching doubt and tiny glimmer of hope. He turns back to Yeonji and asks, “Why should we trust you? Aren’t you on his side?”

She lets out a bitter laugh. “I haven’t been on his side since the truth was revealed to me.” She looks between Jake and Heeseung. “You know I wasn’t here at the start.”

Sunoo lets out a noise of surprise.

“That’s right,” Heeseung says quietly, “you arrived here around the same time as Jay.”

She nods. “There was an ad in the paper, about needing a maid to help manage a remote property. It was good pay, so I applied and was hired. Was surprised the job entailed caring for long-term patients, but my family needed the money. I swear, I wasn’t told what the pills truly did until after Jungwon returned, I wasn’t trusted with that information. I truly thought they were meant to cure you,” she says sincerely.

Sunoo considers this. Even in the short time that he’s been here, he had seen a drastic change from Yeonji’s initial behavior to how she now acted, conflicted and sad emotions shining obviously through her expressions. He glances over at Jake and Heeseung who look wary but willing to give it a shot. She already was withholding information from the Doctor, and honestly there wasn’t much more that they could lose.

“What kind of help can you give us?” Jake inquires.

“Keys, for both the basement and Niki’s room,” she pats a dress pocket. “Let you know when the Doctor plans to leave the house.”

“He leaves the house? When?” Heeseung is shocked. “Today was the first time I’ve ever seen him further than the dining room, and I was the first here.”

“He’s never trusted us with his flowers, always goes out to pick them himself.” She has a bitter twist to her lips as she continues, “Said that mishandling them could be detrimental to their medicinal properties, but now knowing what they are capable of, I think he failed to mention how detrimental they could be to the person harvesting them as well.”

Sunoo asks, “What makes you think that he will go out before the delivery ship comes?”

She wets her lips nervously and lowers her voice a bit. “Every moment he’s not interacting with you boys, he spends in his laboratory, even takes his meals there. I can’t tell what he’s doing, but he’s mentioned in passing that he’s starting to get low on some flower variants. If he keeps up this pace, he’ll absolutely go out to harvest more. When he’s out is your best chance at getting to Niki.”

Heeseung narrows his eyes. “But what do you get from all this?”

“I want your help destroying his research.” She shakes her head vehemently. “I don’t think the world can handle _this_ , and he’d be selling to the highest bidder as soon as he possibly can.” She lets out a short bark of a laugh. “Well, that’s my humanitarian answer. Honestly, it’d be on my conscious forever if I didn’t even try to stop him. I can barely fall asleep now, knowing what’s going on downstairs, let alone letting it happen elsewhere knowing I could stop it.”

It’s quiet for a while, before Heeseung says, “We’ll discuss your offer with the others.”

“I think that’s as good as I can ask for.” She nods at each boy, then quietly enters the house.

Jake turns to the eldest. “You really think she’s telling the truth? That she actually wants to go against the Doctor?”

Heeseung lets out a long weary sigh. “I really hope so.”

***

The next morning, both Jay and Jake are called down to the basement. A few hours later, they return with an auburn haired and amber eyed Jake supported by Jay, who practically vibrates. When Sunoo catches a glimpse of his eyes, he gasps. It was the brightest shade he had seen yet, somewhere between a butterscotch candy and an apricot.

They all sat in the storage room with Jake leaning heavily onto Sunghoon’s shoulder, barely keeping his eyes open, while Jay paced restlessly.

“Jay, you haven’t been still for even a second and your eyes are practically glowing. Did…did he force you to drink from Jake?” Jungwon asks.

Jay snorts derisively. “I wish, I could have stopped around two tea cups, like you did with Sunoo. No, he had us hooked up to these tubes running between Jake and I, arms bound with chains for me and leather straps for Jake to two chairs, facing each other, blood going from one to another. Jake passed out after ten minutes, stopped breathing soon after that. God, I struggled against those restraints so hard, only let the Doctor put them on in the first place because I knew I could break them, but I couldn’t, for some reason I couldn’t.” He runs his hands frustratedly through his hair, gripping the roots as he shuts his eyes. “My veins feel like they are on fire but I couldn’t even break those stupid shackles.”

“What were they made of?” Sunoo asks curiously.

“Iron, probably?” Jay says.

Sunoo hops up from his seat and hunts around the room of broken items for something made of iron. He finds an old hand lantern missing its glass panes, but it will serve his purposes just fine. He holds it out to Jay. “Try breaking it.”

Jay glances at him questioningly but takes it. He places the lantern between his hands and twists, but nothing happens. He tries again with a furrowed brow, and again nothing.

“Can I try?” Sunoo asks.

“If I can’t make a dent, you won’t be able to either,” he says, handing it over.

“That’s the point.” Sunoo also tries twisting the lantern and gets the same result. He sets it down and picks up a brass candelabra missing an arm. Sunoo attempts to bend it but doesn’t make a dent. He hands it to Jay who instantly snaps it in two as if it were a stick. Sunoo picks up the iron lantern once more. “Jungwon, come here for a second.”

Jungwon furrows his brow when Sunoo guides his hand through the empty frames of the lantern so it hangs around his wrist. Sunoo places the top portion of the candelabra into his hands. “Try snapping the other arm off it.”

And Jungwon can’t, the candelabra remaining unchanged in his tight grasp. He slips the lantern off and then it snaps like branch between his fingers.

“This is probably how they’re keeping Niki contained,” Heeseung mumbles, his gaze fixed on the lantern.

Sunghoon’s grip on the sofa armrest tightens, the wood groaning. “The Doctor figured out a weakness that we didn’t know about, what’s to say he hasn’t figured out more?”

They spend the afternoon going through various materials they can find in the storage room. By chance, when Jake reaches over a candle for something, they find out that fire still burns them and takes a few minutes to heal. Silver seems to have the same effect as iron, which basically negates their superhuman strength. Sunghoon experimentally ran the sharp edge of it across the back of his forearm to see if the cut would heal, and the skin knitted itself together in seconds. He tried to compare it to another material, but nothing save the iron could even pierce his changed skin. Sunoo thought back to the time in the Doctor’s office, when he first watched Jungwon heal back instantly. It hadn’t occurred to him then, but medical tools were usually made of silver. The Doctor stumbled upon iron and silver purely by chance, but he purposefully experimented and found monkshood to be a weakness as well. Sunoo dreaded to think of what the three vials of recently drawn blood from the day prior would end up as. More weaknesses or worse?

***

The next three days are quiet. The only time the door to the basement opens is when Yeonji goes down to deliver meals. The boys spend their days trying to discover anything new and avoid dwelling to much on the fact that this ongoing silence can only mean bad things. They are not very successful in either.

The door to the basement swings open at lunch to reveal a slightly disheveled Doctor with bright eyes. “Heeseung, join me downstairs. I do believe I’ve finally had a breakthrough!” Before anyone can properly react, he has dashed excitedly back down the stairs.

Heeseung lets out a long breath, looking at each of the other boys in turn before rising to his feet. He’s nervous but refuses to show any fear. Sunoo can only hope he can be so brave when his name is called.

“I’m going downstairs too,” Yeonji says, standing from the small table where she was polishing silverware. “I’ll make sure he’s back in a few hours, Doctor’s orders or not.”

This only slightly reassures the boys as they watch the door swing shut with a click.

Jay is too restless to play, pacing the length of the sitting room, so Jake takes up the bench to keep his fingers busy. Sunghoon stares out the window while Sunoo grips Jungwon’s hand as they half-heartedly sing along to the tune. They are startled by the noise of the basement door opening, barely an hour has passed, and yet Heeseung returns, leaning heavily on Yeonji. His hair is red brown and eyes amber, but it doesn’t make sense with how short of time has passed. Sunoo looks over to Yeonji as she passes Heeseung off to Jay. She is pale and her eyes are wide. She turns to address all the boys.

She says grimly, “He’s made a pill.”

“What?”

She nervously wrings her shaking hands as she explains. “He gave Heeseung a dark red pill, and after a few minutes, he started to clutch at his chest. I caught him before he fell and lowered him to the ground, but he stopped breathing, and I watched as his hair almost instantly turn red. Only about ten minutes passed, and then he was gasping in my arms.”

“My god,” Jake says faintly, covering his mouth with his hand.

“What the hell was in that pill?” Sunghoon asks harshly.

“Blood, has to be,” Sunoo says weakly.

“And those damn flowers,” Yeonji curses. “After Heeseung started breathing again, he was rambling on about how he knew they were going to be the key, always were.” She looks up at the boys, determination in her eyes. “But we have an opportunity: he told me that he’s sorting out his notes tonight, but was planning to harvest fresh flowers tomorrow night, to not make any dinner particularly heavy since he was going out on a walk. That’s our chance.” She looks beseechingly at the circle of boys. “Please, you have to know that this cannot be allowed to spread, can’t allow him to have his way. Help me destroy it all.”

“What about the flowers though?” Sunoo asks. “Even without his notes, if he still has those, he can remake it all.”

“Burn them,” Jay says. “We tie him up, rip them up from the roots and burn them. Forget getting a warrant, we’ll take him hog-tied to the authorities ourselves.”

“So, will you help me?” Yeonji asks hopefully.

The boys look around at each other. This is their chance to get Niki safely away and get back at the man who has terrorized and harmed them, has forced them to change their friends into something new that they didn’t fully understand quite yet. This would be their one and only chance.

“Yes,” Jungwon speaks for all of them. “Tomorrow night, we end this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While writing the initial timeline:  
> Me: I know by telling it from Sunoo’s POV, I’m limiting it, but still, isn’t this a bit too dark?  
> Me:-Thinks back on Big Hit’s history with story universes. Thinks about BTS’s ‘I NEED U’ mv and TXT’s ‘Eternally.’ Thinks about the traumatic scenes possible in Enhypen’s universe.-  
> Me: You know what, it’s probably fine.
> 
> Another chapter finished, and probably only one more to go, woo! At times, this chapter felt a bit rushed, but I can't tell if that's just me being hypercritical of my own work as usual or not. Regardless, hope you liked the set up to the final confrontation. I'd love to hear your thoughts! <3


	6. Cross the Line

That evening, Sunoo sits in the storage room and stares up at the moon. It is a full moon, but despite the huge amount of light shining from it, he can barely see the outline of the parameter fence and the trees beyond that. He knew, on this, the night before their final confrontation, he should be thinking of strategies to keep the upper hand tomorrow, of all the weaknesses and strengths this rebirth had given his friends and how to use that knowledge to their advantage, but all he could seem to think about was the fact that he was the last one left human. That was a good thing …right? The Doctor hadn’t called him downstairs, he was still himself, unchanged. His hair was still black, his eyes still dark brown. He was still Sunoo. Still Sunoo, the oft-sickly boy who cried so much after his grandma passed, who couldn’t get the hang of woodworking to take over the family business and pleaded for another chance to his father’s back, who trailed after the neighborhood kids, always on the outskirts, never quite fitting in, instead finding comfort looking at a cat that looked as fluffy as a cloud, who he never got to pet, whose eyes shone like a thousand stars…

…which stare back at him right now.

Sunoo jumps back in surprise as the odd-eyed cat daintily sits down on the windowsill and stares back at him.

“You feel it, don’t you?”

“Feel what?”

“That you’re going to be left behind. Again.”

Sunoo is startled. “What?”

The cat begins grooming itself, its feigned nonchalance not fully covering the gleam of satisfaction in its eyes. “I failed to mention something the last time we talked. You’ve done a good job, figuring out some of what my blessing bestows, but there is something you won’t find out before leaving this island: they no longer age.” The cat opens its eyes wide, faking a shocked tone. “Oh my, but you haven’t been changed yet, have you? What a pity.”

Sunoo clutches his shaking hands, a mix of many emotions swirling in his heart: anger at always being on the back foot, despair that his friends would unintentionally leave him behind, fear of what is to come for all of them, a tiny bit of misguided hope that he would wake up to Jaegin handing him a glass of water after having told Niki to go down to breakfast, that his fever had relapsed and all of this was just a dream, that none of this nightmare was real.

But this was real.

A grin spreads across the cat’s face. “Oh, this is my favorite iteration of your story. The one where you are the last little human. Poor little Sunoo, always left behind,” it sings, “Poor, poor, little Sunoo!”

“Sunoo!”

Sunoo opens his eyes with a start. Jungwon is in front of him, hand to his shoulder and a worried look on his face. Sunoo glances at the window, seeing the moon is only a sliver in the sky. Jungwon gently runs a hand across his cheek, catching tears Sunoo didn’t know he was shedding.

“Did you come up here to think and accidently fall asleep?” Jungwon asks.

Sunoo clears his throat, “Yeah, yeah something like that.” He shifts uncomfortably.

“Would you like some company? I hear it keeps nightmares away,” Jungwon says smiling softly with a bit of a worried look to his eyes.

Sunoo looks up at Jungwon sadly, Jungwon’s own smile fading as he takes a seat beside Sunoo and wraps his arms around him as fresh tears flow.

“What’s wrong? Are you worried about tomorrow? You know we’re going to get Niki back just fine,” Jungwon says comfortingly. “With Yeonji walking in first to distance Jaegin from him, we’ll get him out of harm’s way easily. And the Doctor? Pfft, he’s just an old man and poses no threat to us once Niki’s safe. His research, his blood pills, his flowers, none of it will ever leave this island, you know none of us will allow that to happen, okay? Sunoo, we’ve planned it all out, and it’s going to go just fine, please stop crying. It’s going to be alright; we’re going to leave this island together.”

Sunoo lets out a choked sob. “But after that?”

“After we leave the island?”

“We won’t be together then.”

Jungwon pulls back to look at Sunoo’s face, using his thumbs to brush away his tears. “Yes, we’ll still be together after that. What brought all this on?”

“It’s just that…” once again, Sunoo finds himself unable to get the words past his lips.

 _“Cat got your tongue?”_ it purrs tauntingly.

Sunoo tries a different way. “…you all are different now, are all so much stronger and faster and who knows what else, and…and I worry that I’ll get left behind,” he ends in a whisper.

Jungwon tightly grips Sunoo’s arms. “We’d never leave you behind!” he says fiercely. “Never ever ever! What we told Niki applies to you too: we are a family, and we are leaving this island together, and we are going to _stay_ together after that."

Sunoo is silent for a few moments, trying to choose the right words. “Jungwon…if I asked you to change me, right now, would you do it?”

Jungwon is shocked, searching Sunoo’s eyes. “Sunoo… you can’t be serious right now, right?” Sunoo stares back resolutely. A beat of silence, then Jungwon slowly shakes his head. “No.”

Sunoo bristles. “Why not? I’m literally asking you to do it,” he says angrily, tears once again pricking at the corners of his eyes, tears of frustration and fear.

“I won’t take your humanity away from you when I’m not forced to. I can’t _,_ Sunoo, _I can’t._ ”

Sunoo’s lip quivers, and Jungwon hugs him tightly once more. Is this how it always will be? Sunoo never getting to choose his own fate, even just once? Forever the passenger in his own life? In his anger, he does something inexplicable and bites Jungwon’s neck. Of course, his teeth do nothing, Jungwon’s neck might as well be made of marble for all the damage he does. Jungwon freezes momentarily in shock, then goes back to rubbing circles onto Sunoo’s back. Sunoo tries to break free from his hold, hitting at his sides and twisting, but Jungwon just holds him tighter, his own tears leaking past his closed eyes as he takes it all, letting Sunoo vent as he so obviously needs. Sunoo’s struggles slow and eventually cease, and he leans heavily into Jungwon with a sob.

“I’m sorry,” he wetly whispers. “I’m just so afraid, _so afraid_ of being left behind. I’m sorry.”

Jungwon places a kiss into Sunoo’s hair. He asks softly: “Sunoo, do you remember when you talked me out of the bathroom? You remember what you promised me?”

Sunoo’s breath hitches.

“You told me you’d stick so close to me, I’d get sick of you, right? How am I supposed to keep you true to that if I leave you behind? If any of us leave you behind?”

Sunoo clutches Jungwon’s shirt in his shaking hands. “But what if you do? What if something out of our hands separates us?”

“I’d like to see them try.”

“Not someone, something. We don’t know how things will be after we leave, and I just… I don’t want to be different, separate from all of you. You’re all so important to me now.”

Jungwon lefts out a long, slow breath. “We’re all under a lot of stress right now, and I don’t want you throwing your life away just cause the situation still feels dire. After we leave, if you still want to change, I’ll…. consider it,” Jungwon says reluctantly. Sunoo gasps, then hugs Jungwon tightly. “But you have to discuss this with everyone, and listen to all of them talk you out of it, cause it’s such a dumb idea, seriously Sunoo, you’re so smart, why now at the end are you acting so dumb...”

Sunoo lets Jungwon lecture him, just happy that he will have a choice, still has a bit of control over his future. Reassured now, without the cat’s voice twisting his thoughts, he knows that Jungwon will keep him close, and if he doesn’t Niki will be sure to. Heck, none of them will leave him behind. And he’ll sit through all the lectures and logic they can think up and still insist on being changed, so he can always keep up, not be left behind in time.

Sunoo opens his eyes and looks out the window, up at that sliver of a moon. Before he gets caught up in the future, he needs to make sure there was a future to plan and fuss with in the first place. Everything hinged on tomorrow night. And he would do everything he could to make sure they all had a future, together.

***

The day was very quiet, everyone antsy and nervous for what was to come, but also excited for it to finally be over. They would get Niki back, destroy the Doctor’s work, and deliver him to the authorities in a few days time when the delivery boat would arrive. Yeonji told them at dinner that the Doctor had his nose buried in his work all day but was definitely still going out a few hours after night had fallen. She asked that they wait in the storage room and she would collect them when he had left.

So here they sit, on the sofas and chairs, Jay pacing back and forth, Heeseung’s knee bouncing, Jake biting his lip, Sunghoon closing his eyes and basically meditating, and Sunoo holding Jungwon’s nervously fiddling hands. Five sets of gold to amber eyes landed on the door, and about twenty seconds later, Sunoo could finally hear Yeonji approach. The door swung open to reveal Yeonji, her eyes sharp and determined. “It’s time, he just left about five minutes ago and should be in the woods now.”

All the boys get up and calmly but hurriedly start making their way down the stairs, through the sitting and dining room, and stand before the basement door. Yeonji unlocks it, then leads the way down. Sunoo felt as if his heart was in his throat, Jungwon using his thumb to comfortingly stroke their still connected hands as they descend. After they reach the basement landing and proceed down the hallway, she motions with her hand to stay there while she turns the corner. Sunoo was in the back and couldn’t see anything, but he hears Yeonji call out, “Jaegin, I need to ask you something, can I come in?”

It’s silent for about ten seconds, then Yeonji tries again. “Jaegin? Are you alright?”

“No, she’s not,” a male voice responds.

Sunoo hears the rattling of keys then a door unlocking and swinging open, then a sharp gasp. Heeseung and Jay are at the head of the group of boys and arrive instantly at the door, freezing in the doorway. Jake and Sunghoon behind them do the same. Sunoo moves around, trying to see anything beyond their bodies when he hears a soft whimper followed by the rustle of clothing and something hitting the floor.

“Niki,” Heeseung breaths, finally moving from the doorway and into the room. The name seems to bring the rest that could actually see into the room back to life and they crowd inside. As the four move to surround a happily crying Niki who wraps them each in a tight embrace, Sunoo can finally see into the room. It’s a white square room with only a single chair for furnishings. A bar along one wall has an attached chain that leads to Niki’s leg. In the center of the room, Yeonji is on her knees on the floor, quietly praying over Jaegin. She’s pale, much too pale. Her eyes are closed, as if she were asleep, but Sunoo knows she is not. There are two tiny circular holes on her neck.

Sunoo quickly looks to Niki, now hugging Jay. As if sensing his eyes, Niki opens his own and stares a Sunoo with a teary smile. Sunoo smiles back, overjoyed to see a pair of maroon eyes beneath a mop of blonde hair. He feels guilty that the thought had even crossed his mind, that Niki had done this, but then who…?

Sunoo lets go of Jungwon’s hand to wrap Niki in a tight hug as soon as he’s let go of Jay. “Too tight, too tight!” he says breathlessly, patting Niki on the back.

Niki immediately loosens his hold with a, “Sorry!”

Sunoo laughs softly, fondly ruffling Niki’s hair. “It’s fine, just be gentle with me, I’m still squishy.”

“Squishy?” Niki pulls back and moves his gaze around everyone, “Ya, what’s up with your hair? What happened while I was in here?”

“Your hair is different too y’know,” Jungwon says ruffling his blonde locks.

“It is?” Niki says, eyes wide as he moves his bangs from his eyes.

“Yeah, a shade lighter than Jay’s,” Jake says. “It’s part of the transformation.”

“Are…are my eyes yellow then?” Niki asks, a touch of fear in his tone.

“No, not even orange, why?” Sunoo asks. Niki looks haunted as he looks towards the two adults in the room. “Niki, what happened?”

“He…the Doctor came in yesterday evening, and he was…different. His hair was pure white, like snow, and his eyes were like embers. Jaegin was shocked, too, started asking him questions, asking him if he took a pill or something. He said yes, and she had this horrified look on her face. She tried to back up, but she ended up tripping and she scraped her elbow. I smelled something... sweet? But before I cold figure out what it was, the Doctor just leapt at her, and bit into her arm.” Niki shakes his head and shivers, comforting hands immediately on him as he continues softly. “He lifted his head from her arm and just kept her trapped beneath him. Jaegin was screaming at him, pushing him, kicking him, but he didn’t even budge. And then he bit her neck, like an animal! And she just screamed, god, she screamed, but the silence after that was worse.” Sunoo wipes away his tears and Niki leans into his touch.

“What happened after that?” Heeseung asks gently.

“He stood up and looked at me. His eyes were pale yellow, lighter than daffodils, and reflected candlelight like a cat’s. He just stared me down while he licked his lips and I felt sick. Then he locked the door behind him, and then you’re here, thank god, you’re here! You’re real and not just a dream.” Niki has an arm around Sunoo and Jungwon and just clings to them as he sobs.

“Shh, shh, that’s right, we’re here, and we’re getting out of here.” Jungwon strokes his hair and looks with wide eyes over Niki’s shoulder at the others. They all have furrowed brows and pinched lips. Sunoo, to his own surprise, is only mildly shocked that the Doctor succumbed to the siren’s call of rebirth. This complicated things, the Doctor having superhuman abilities meant their own was no longer an advantage. At least they still had numbers on their side, and surprise.

“We have to continue,” Yeonji has composed herself, and she stands as she continues. “We have to destroy his research before he gets back.” She takes a key off her ring and hands it to Sunghoon. He kneels down and unlocks the iron shackle around Niki’s ankle. She takes one last glance at Jaegin, then leaves the room.

The boys are grim but follow after. She is right, it is an unfortunate change of circumstances, but the bottom line remains the same: destroy the research, subdue the Doctor. Jungwon is quietly filling in Niki with necessary information as they approach another door, the one across from the exam room. Yeonji unlocks it and holds the door open for the boys. It’s a laboratory, full of beakers and other glassware, jars and jars of powders and flower buds, small metal tools and presses, and parchments and books scattered throughout.

“Smash it all, I’m grabbing all the documents and throwing them in the fireplace,” Yeonji strides forward and starts grabbing notebooks off a shelf, then heading out of the room.

Jungwon is still talking with Niki in the hall, but the five other boys start to plan the destruction of the room. Heeseung directs them to put all the plants and powders into a large glass vessel so they can pour it into the fire, and any papers and books into boxes to be carried upstairs to the fireplace. They meticulously bend every tool into unrecognizable shapes, smash every beaker and flask in one corner of the room and rip through the spines of books before before putting them into a few boxes. Sunoo and Jay carry the first of these boxes up the stairs, joining Yeonji in the sitting room. She’s stoked the embers back into a blaze with fresh logs on top, and is feeding the notebooks carefully in.

Sunoo turns to Jay after they set their boxes near the fireplace. “Go back downstairs to help them tear it up. I’ll sit here and feed things to the flames.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I’m more liable to get hurt down there and we don’t need bleeding cuts tonight.”

Jay nods, then heads back downstairs. Sunoo and Yeonji sit side by side, watching as the flames hungrily eat up the carefully penned words, years of findings going up in smoke. Sunoo feels a kind of grim satisfaction, but glancing over to Yeonji, he thinks his feelings pale in comparison to hers. Truly, a woman scorned…

“What will you do, after we leave?” Sunoo asks quietly.

Yeonji shrugs. “Find another job, I suppose. Still have siblings to feed.”

“How many?”

“Eldest of six,” she says, a touch of smile gracing her lips. “Maybe I’ll look for something closer to home, I miss them.”

“Aww, was I that terrible of a boss? That you’ll leave without notice?”

The two startle, and quickly stand, Sunoo knocking one of the boxes over and Yeonji reaching an arm behind her back. The Doctor stands on the other side of the room, moonlight putting his face into shadows except for his bright yellow eyes.

“Knew something was off, but I wasn’t expecting this, Yeonji. Not even going to give me two weeks’ notice?” he says with a sharp grin, his canines long and deadly sharp.

“How’s this for my notice, you monster!” Yeonji suddenly lunges at him, swinging a fire poker at his head which he catches with his hand. Surprise flashes in his eyes as he finds himself struggling against her, the iron poker having subdued his superhuman abilities.

“Guys, help!” Sunoo screams, relying on the ears of his friends to pick up his call.

The Doctor growls, and suddenly lets go of the poker and feigns to one side, causing Yeonji to stumble. His hand is on her neck, and he slams her into the floor, gasping, the fire poker clattering onto the floor.

Sunoo can only watch in agape horror as he bites into her neck viciously and drinks. And then, there are suddenly four bodies bowling into him. Heeseung, Jay, Jake, and Sunghoon wrestle him off of her and across the room. They swipe and dodge, the movements too quick for Sunoo to follow but the four of them seem to be struggling to keep the overfed Doctor at bay. The Doctor gets a good grip on Jake and throws him through the window. Enraged, the three throw him outside as well, and the fight continues outside. The two youngest are in the archway of the room, Jungwon holding Niki back from-

At a shocked gurgle, Sunoo refocuses on Yeonji. He falls to his knees beside her. Her eyes are wide, hands clutching at her neck as blood continues to flow. Sunoo quickly unties her waist apron and puts the clean white cloth to her wounded neck, pressing down hard. She tries to speak, every word coming out garbled.

“Shh, it’s alright, you’re going to be fine,” Sunoo placates, holding her frantic eyes with his own, trying to avoid looking at the cloth rapidly becoming soaked with blood.

She clutches are his wrist, her grip fierce and strong. “Fi… shu… finish…. it,” she struggles to get out.

“Of course, of course,” Sunoo nods, tears falling from his eyes and landing on their joined hands.

She huffs a few times, then her eyes roll to the back of her head. Sunoo lets out choked, frightened sobs as her grip loosens, hand falling away with a gasping final breath.

Sunoo shakily lets go of the blood-soaked apron. He looks away from her, eyes landing on the fire poker. He wraps his fingers around it tightly, knuckles turning white.

Then suddenly he’s being dragged towards the door, arms around his torso and Jungwon’s voice in his ear chanting, “Room’s on fire, room’s on fire!”

Sunoo glances back as Jungwon momentarily pauses while Niki practically rips the front door off its hinges: the tipped over box’s contents had scattered around the fireplace, and already the sitting chairs closest were ablaze, flames starting to char the curling wallpaper.

They’re on the front lawn now, between the porch and the gate when Jungwon finally sets him back on his unsteady feet, Niki nervously hugging his arm, eyes focused elsewhere. Sunoo turns to look in the same direction.

The four are still fighting with the Doctor, swiping with nails that glint sharply and hissing at each other like dueling tomcats. Sunoo can’t follow everything, but he sees the heaving chests of his friends, and hears the Doctor taunting them, asking why are they _so slow,_ eyes practically white in the moonlight.

Sunoo tries to shove Jungwon forward. “Go, help them!”

Jungwon glances back at him in surprise but catches on quick and joins the fray.

Sunoo turns to Niki, who just shakes his head frantically. “I’m not leaving your side, you’re still human! I have to protect you.” Sunoo quickly realizes he won’t be swaying the stubborn boy and turns back to the house. The flames have spread quickly, licking out the hole where the window used to be, slowly crawling up to the second floor.

His eyes flick back to the whirling, hissing ball of movement that is the fight. Jungwon didn’t tip the fight in their favor. Even after what seems like too long a time, the Doctor still doesn’t have a single scratch on him, but as each of his friends pause for a few seconds before returning to the battle, Sunoo starts to notice the bleeding scratches they all are sporting, Sunghoon favoring one leg, Jake only using one arm… With all of Jaegin’s blood flowing through his veins, the Doctor might very well be ten or twenty times their strength. Even if Niki joined, given his practically brown eyes, their combined force might not be enough to subdue the Doctor. Sunoo growls in frustration and squeezes his hands. Wait, he was holding something in his right hand. He glances down, having forgotten about the fire poker. An idea sparks into his head.

“Niki, I need your help.”

“What is it?”

“It’s time to tip the scales. When the others go to the sidelines to take a breath, tell them to keep his back towards me.” He hefts the iron poker up. “Iron will injure him, just as if he were human. All I need is an opening.”

Niki glances between his fighting friends, the still taunting Doctor, and Sunoo’s bright determined eyes. He ducks in for a quick hug, then is dashing towards the others. As Niki whispers in each of their ears, a hopeful gleam enters their eyes and their mouths set in determination. The group as a whole shifts and gets the Doctor’s back to turn from the woods to Sunoo. Sunoo approaches as slowly as he can, the boys helping to mask his noise with their shouting and yelling. He pauses about two yards behind the Doctor and he connects eyes with Jungwon, then Heeseung, using his free hand to tightly grip his other arm. They nod, seeming to understand his silent message. Sunoo closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, then shouts “Now!” as he begins to sprint.

Everything seems to be going in slow motion. The Doctor turns his head over his shoulder, sees Sunoo with surprise, but he can’t turn, Jungwon and Heeseung gripping each of his arms. The Doctor turns to Jungwon, and he’s lifting him off the ground and starting to pivot on his heel when Sunoo drives the fire poker deep into his side. He yowls in pain and without the strength to hold him up, Jungwon comes crashing into Sunoo, the two tumbling across the lawn.

“Sunoo! Jungwon!” Heeseung worriedly shouts, momentarily distracted.

But a moment is all the Doctor needs. When Sunoo looks up from his place on the grass, he sees the Doctor with the fire poker in hand swinging it at Heeseung’s head. As Heeseung falls down, the Doctor hurls the poker into the hole in the side of the burning house. He is just starting to turn back to Heeseung when Jay and Niki barrel into him, making him stumble in the opposite direction as Jake kneels beside Heeseung, who lays in the grass clutching his head.

There’s a hand on Sunoo’s face, moving his to look up into Jungwon’s worried face. “Sunoo, are you alright? Anything broken?”

Sunoo groans as he sits up, experimentally testing his limbs. “No, just sore. Go help them,” he nods towards the trio struggling against the Doctor. Although bleeding from his side, the wound just seemed to enrage the Doctor, who unbelievably seemed to be moving even faster than before. Jungwon springs back into the fight, tugging Niki out of the way when he’s not quite quick enough. Sunoo sends Jake back in and takes over looking after Heeseung.

Sunoo runs a gentle hand over the rapidly forming bruise on the side of his head, right at his temple. A hit like that probably would’ve killed a human, but Heeseung was just woozy, thank goodness. Sunoo looks back to the fight, desperately trying to come up with something, anything to help. But without the fire poker, he was practically useless. The Doctor no longer taunted, now only making animalistic sounds as he continued to snap and swipe at the tiring boys. He sent Jay flying with a growl. Thankfully, he got back up with a groan. It was only a matter of time before another one of them got seriously injured, god, what could Sunoo do?

Sunoo glances down at his wrist. There was one thing a human could do, and only a human. It was risky, stupidly, idiotically risky, and his hunch might not even be right, but Sunoo was unwilling to see any more of his friends hurt, possibly killed.

He finds a sharp twig in the grass and jogs to the corner of the house. He eyes the side door that led to the kitchen. The fire had yet to reach this far side of the house, but was coming close, the second floor already engulfed. _A little blood will fix anything_ , he chants in his head to reassure himself, _I’ll come back from this_.

Before he loses his nerve, he shouts, “Hey! Doctor! Injured patient over here!” All eyes turn towards him as he slashes the stick across the thin skin of his forearm. Sunoo sees the Doctor’s nostrils flare and he tosses the boys aside, growling and yowling and completely inhuman as he runs on all fours.

Sunoo flees to the door, entering the house, ignoring the surprised shouts and screamed pleas of his friends. He manages to snag a cast iron pan on his way through the kitchen. As he reaches the door leading to the side hallway, claws sink into his leg, and he screams as he is dragged to the ground. As he falls sideways, he manages to swing the pan and clip the Doctor in the head, flinging him away from Sunoo, both crashing to the floor.

Sunoo takes a few gulping breaths and coughing on smoke as he sits up. He faintly registers a deep groaning from above, but his eyes seek out the Doctor. The shell of the man whimpers as he pants, rising on four limbs and turning towards Sunoo. This close, Sunoo can see his eyes are blood red. Before he can process anything past the shock, the Doctor leaps at him. Sunoo swings the pan in time to hit him once more and he tumbles to the side. Sunoo moves back towards the open door, putting some space between them. The Doctor gets up, growling, drool dripping from his exposed fangs as he eyes Sunoo hungrily.

Sunoo readies the pan once more, but as soon as the Doctor takes one stride towards him, there’s a wooden shriek from above, and suddenly everything above them comes crashing down.

All Sunoo sees is flames and then pitch black nothing.

***

Sunoo expects to feel searing, burning heat, but all he feels is cold, chilled down to his bones. He opens his eyes and sees a full moon in a sea of black. He sits up slowly, finding himself once more on the tiny island in the black sea of nothing. The scene is very familiar, right down to the white, unearthly cat who sits before him. Sunoo hates the smug grin on its face, like it just got the cream.

“What do you want?” he asks coldly.

The cat chortles and it actually moves with the sound, shoulders shaking and throwing its head back in glee. “Oh, you have just put on a most wonderous show for me. I am so delighted! I’ve never seen this variant, and I think it is my new favorite. Dramatic, all the way to the end!” It opens its eyes, staring at Sunoo once again. “And you actually all lived this time, what a surprise.”

Sunoo stiffens, face hardening in anger. “I thought you said if I accepted your offer, we all would live.”

“I never said that,” it says, tail flicking. “I only said there would be something more after you all died, never mentioned if you would or would not die _again_.”

Sunoo bristles. “You bas-”

“Hush, Sunoo,” the cat cuts him off sharply. “I’m in a good mood right now, but your attitude is starting to sour it. And you really don’t want to see me angry,” it chides him. Sunoo holds his tongue and the cat continues. “Now, as I said, this was the first time I’ve seen you all survive, and I’d like to think it was my added interventions this time around that caused it. Ah, I deserve a real pat on the back, you should be thanking me, Sunoo!”

Sunoo ignores it, redirecting the conversation. “I thought you knew all, how did you not see this outcome before?”

The cat sighs dramatically. “Being all-seeing is only fun when it’s not combined with immortality, then it just gets boring really quick. So, I look only at a few events, and how a tiny tweak could cause a lot of chaos, a whole show for me. So many branching timelines, so many iterations to the story, all from one little change.” It smiles too-widely. “And with this version of events, there’s even more to play with after you leave the island.”

Sunoo shakes his head. “I’m never listening to you again.”

The cat cocks its head to the side. “Who said I’d be talking to you anymore?”

“Don’t you dare talk to them!” he shouts down at the furry devil.

“You’ll never be able to warn them.” The cat chuckles darkly, and suddenly, it starts to grow. Sunoo has to scramble back as its form keeps growing and growing, its laughs getting deeper and deeper till it feels like it shakes Sunoo’s very soul. Two moon sized eyes, one sapphire and one peridot, stare down at him. It smiles, revealing a mouth of razor-sharp teeth. “Wake up, Sunoo, I’m ready to play.”

***

Sunoo opens his eyes with a gasping breath and is suddenly embraced. His brain is slowly registering his surroundings. He’s laying on the grass, which he can smell faintly, but the overwhelming scent is of ash and smoke. He tastes it on his tongue, along with the tang of blood. Above him hangs a sliver of a moon and a million stars. He redirects his gaze down and sees trees then a fence then four crouched figures around his legs. Heeseung, Jay, Jake, and Sunghoon look rough around the edges, scratched and banged up, clothing singed, but smile brightly at him, which he returns back. Sunoo continues to pan lower and sees Jungwon kneeling on his right. He has a tight grip on his right hand and tears in his eyes. And firmly attached to his chest is a mop of blonde hair. He lifts his left hand and runs it softly through, calming down the sobbing boy.

“It’s alright, Niki, I’m back.”

“You’re an idiot, Sunoo!” Jungwon shouts.

“Yeah, what were you even thinking?” Jay joins.

“Absolutely mad as a hatter,” Jake mutters with a disappointed shake of his head.

“We barely got you out of there, and I really doubt we can reanimate bones,” Sunghoon says harshly.

“Sunoo, what do you have to say for yourself?” Heeseung asks coldly.

Sunoo’s short laugh startles everyone. “Even knowing the risks, I’d do it a million times over. If this is the only way we all get out of here alive, my humanity is a cheap price to pay.”

There’s a sharp jab to his side that makes Sunoo gasp in pain. “Don’t talk about yourself like that.” Niki’s maroon eyes sharply glare at him.

Sunoo just smiles. “And you’d do exactly the same in my shoes. Any of you would,” his eyes traveling around the whole group, seeing a lot of reluctant frowns. “And I would yell at you, too.”

Jungwon flicks his forehead, and Sunoo lets out a shout of pain. “Just cause you’re right doesn’t mean you get to be all smug about it. You risked your life, let us berate you for a while.”

Sunoo laughs. “Sure, sure, I was already gearing up to ignore some lectures.”

Jungwon flicks his head harder for that.

***

They go to the clearing and rip up every flower they find there. They also find Charles, the Doctor’s dog, with his lead tied to a tree. They untie the innocent little thing, who happily licks at their fingers.

They toss the flowers onto the still burning house. At this point, the first floor has collapsed into the basement, making the burning mess barely knee high. Sunoo sadly look towards the once-sitting room regretfully. He didn’t think about it till now, but they could have dragged Yeonji’s body out of there, before it all got out of hand, and brought her back too. He knows he’ll regret that for the rest of his life.

The seven of them stand hand in hand, watching the last of those god-forsaken flowers turn to ash and blow away in the wind.

***

Two days later, Sunoo stands on the deck of the deliverymen’s ship, silver hair tossed about in the salty breeze and amber eyes shining in the bright sunlight. The crew were of course surprised at the sight of seven boys in singed clothing and a tiny dog emerging from the run-down boat house, but as they told the story, of how the house suddenly caught fire during the night and how the adults got caught in the building after making sure all the kids got out, they sympathetically took the boys abord, assuring them that they’d get them to the mainland, safe and sound, and into the hands of people who could help them get back to their families. They smiled, and thanked them for their generosity, knowing full well that they’d slip away before the talked with any doctors or policemen. The dog looks quite at home, scampering around the deck and every crewman happily scratching behind his ears when their hands were free. Sunoo smiles, confident they could leave Charles in caring hands.

Sunoo takes one last look at the island as the crew start to unfurl the sails. He wasn’t here very long, but if he ever sees this speck of land ever again, it would be too soon. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees a speck of white. At the end of the dock, sits a little white cat. The animal looks vaguely familiar and tickles at his memories, like a half-forgotten dream. Sunoo turns over his shoulder, looking for one of his friends. “Hey, Sunghoon, come here for a sec!”

Sunghoon joins him at the railing, “What, see something interesting?”

“Yeah, there’s a cat-” but when Sunoo turns back to the dock, the white cat is gone. He looks along the shoreline, trying to spot it if it decided to run. “I swear, there was a cat at the end of the dock just a moment ago.”

Sunghoon snorts, also running his gaze across the shore. “Sure you don’t need your eyes checked?”

“Hey! I probably have better sight than you do right now,” Sunoo bumps shoulders with him, glaring at him lightly before turning back to the slowly receding island. Must have been a trick of the light. Sunoo turns his back to the island, following Sunghoon below deck where the cook is whipping up something for the starving boys.

Sunoo is excited to see where his life goes from here, surrounded by these wonderful brothers he found on a tiny island in the middle of nowhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long author’s note:
> 
> ~~how do you write action scenes~~
> 
> Wow, what a dramatic ending! I always knew it would end in fire, but beyond that it was a mystery as to how I would tie it all up. I keep referencing the original timeline I wrote up on Dec 23, which I’ve posted to Imgur so it doesn’t mess up the word count on this fic. Link here if you’re curious (https://imgur.com/a/DAOsgLK). 
> 
> Looking back, I find it very amusing how much the story immediately diverted, right from chapter 1. It was only while I was introducing the rest of the boys that the idea that they had the pills from the mv before they changed into vampires instead of after to control their powers popped into my head and I just ran with it. The only time I stopped to plan out any plot points was after chapter 4. I essentially just let the scenes flow organically from that fundamental pill change, letting the narrative grow and expand unhindered. With the two weeks deadline for the remaining events, I did finally sit down and actually plan out events, cause I wanted an at least half-way decent climax and ending. So I spent five days stewing over the order of events, and I actually rather like how it all turned out. Only tweak since then was Sunoo not being changed in the attic. Until I was actually writing this final chapter, I was certain that Sunoo would be changed, but then I thought about it and realized unlike the original plan I had, there was a lack of motivation. Originally, the motivation was that Jungwon was distraught over having to see his friends dead before they rose again and Sunoo suggesting maybe they could be changed without dying first. Unlike then, in this version, with no prodding by the Doctor, there would be no reason for Sunoo to be changed that night. So instead it became an emotionally charged scene with Sunoo struggling with feelings of abandonment. And instead of Yeonji leading the animalistic Doctor away with her own blood, it became human Sunoo’s role. I feel it is a bit of a disservice to Yeonji, who I was trying to do a redemption arc with ending with a blaze of glory, literally, but overall makes for a better dramatic finale considering we are following Sunoo’s viewpoint.
> 
> I’m excited to see what new content will be coming down the road in this story universe! I can’t wait to figure out if the ‘future’ scenes are really chronologically the first or if the boys slipped through time/ if the boarding house is on the magic island and time doesn’t really apply at all. Lots of different avenues to explore!
> 
> With uni starting up soon and work already back from holiday, I’m very happy to have this complete before I once again have limited free time, haha. I have however been toying with another fic idea. I need a break from drama, my heart can’t handle another dark and heavy plot, so I’m starting to lay out the groundwork for a fluffy, episodic Stardew Valley / TXT!Fairies fic. Gosh, those season’s greetings photos were just too cute, how can people so tall radiate so much tiny energy?? I will return to the Enhypen boys down the road, but their brothers are calling my name at the moment, haha.
> 
> Edit: I can't escape the drama, I ended up starting an action/adventure TXT fic with a dash of mystery, 'Get Back to Where I Belong.' 20k in and it's not even half done...
> 
> TL;DR
> 
> Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed the ride!! <3


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